Within the Blood
by the e t e r n a l -STORY
Summary: The Guardians are all married- the kids are growing up. But even though the parents are less than pleased, the Next Generation knows how to deal with a threat when they see it. After all, talent seems to run in the blood.
1. Within the Blood

**Within the Blood**

_A Katekyo Hitman Reborn fanfiction_  
By: the e t e r n a l -STORY

_-_

**Summary**: The Guardians are all married- the kids are growing up. But even though the parents are less than pleased, the Next Generation knows how to deal with a threat when they see it. After all, talent seems to run in the blood.

-

The children were bored as fuck.

Adolescents, prepubescents, and teenagers alike, as cool as having the Vongola mansion to themselves for a night was, they were still bored as hell.

"Yo, Shirou!" Gokudera Emi was sprawled on the couch, munching on some chips. "Move your ass. I can't see the TV."

"Maa maa, calm down Emi." Shirou shot back, collapsing onto the other couch. "No need to be bitchy."

It hadn't been too much of a shock to the Vongola Guardians when Yamamoto had ended up marrying Haru, the two were both unnaturally cheerful. It seemed altogether natural. But the fact that Gokudera ended up settling down was a bit of a shock. He had married an assasin in one of the families under jurisdiction of the Vongola, a beautiful, pale woman who had talent with the flute. It had also been surprising when Gokudera's wife had popped out a baby girl, as everyone had expected Gokudera most of all to have a son. Not that it mattered much- Emi had enough fire and attitude to make up for it.

Really, the kids had inherited more than enough of their parent's traits. Their appearances alone were startlingly reminescent.

Hair rumpled in a messy yet appealing way, Shirou was dressed in loose jeans and a baggy baseball t-shirt, covered in a thin layer of sweat. The 16 year old had just come in from baseball practice, having been dropped off by his ever-proud father. Looks hadn't failed him- he had his father's easygoing smile and his mother's brown hair, his father's skills at baseball and an interesting talent at customising clothes. And, needless to say, he was tall, already rivaling his father.

Emi on the other hand was short, slim, and petite, her low-rise jeans coupled with a stomach-hugging, tummy-revealing skull patterned top, that always got her father looking pointedly away in disgust as he recognized his sister's handiwork. Clearly someone had gotten fashion tips from her auntie. 16 years old, she wore her father's silver hair proudly, cut short and to flatter, and it was usually tied in a ponytail. Delicate hands that were perfect for coaxing music out of the piano, blue eyes like her mother, and a temper to match daddy's. What a girl.

"Bitchy my ass, I'm bored." She rolled her eyes at the TV, then held out the chip bowl. "Mmph?"

"Thanks." Shirou grabbed a handful and looked at the screen. "A romance soap? What kind of trash are you watching?"

"Trash. Isn't that the point of Saturday nights?" She threw the remote at him, leaning back. "Where's Katashi?"

"He's coming back soon. Big 10 didn't want to involve him in a fight."

"Another one broke out?"

"Hey, it's good for him." Shirou let a grin pass over his face. "Bastard got to drive his dad's car."

Emi was suddenly on her feet, the chip bowl forgotten and forlornly strewn on its side. Her hands clenched in pure envy, mouth open and gaping. "NO! No freaking way! Juudaime would never trust him with the car!"

"You'll never buy this either." Shirou was now leaning forward, resting his chin on his hand and giving her a wide, sadistic grin. "He didn't take the normal car. He took the _Audi_."

One of the top points of being in the mafia was the cars. Oh lord, the kids pined for the day that they would be given their own. But the Tenth always got the best, usually at the coaxing of the Guardians. And the Audi? It was the incarnation of sexy and speed packed into a vehicle that the next generation absolutely drooled over. Unbelievably fast, painting bright red streaks onto the road, and with just about every customization card the Vongola name could pull. With its price tag, they weren't even allowed to _touch_ it.

"_No fucking way_. There is not a snowball's chance in _hell_ that Juudaime would let Katashi drive _underage_ in the Audi." Emi was shaking by then, practically turning green. If none of the above convinced you she was offspring of the Storm, her language would. "Ten bucks says he didn't let him have the Audi."

"Emi-chan, Katashi called me, he said so-"

"Ten fucking bucks!"

"Alright, your loss." He leaned back, arms resting behind his head as he smiled wickedly. Shirou may have been Yamamoto's son, but he had his mean streak (and it often showed in the form of a keen ability to take advantage of situations. At least he hadn't inherited Haru's 'Hahi!?")

And speak of the devil, they heard the door open a moment later, footsteps made their way towards them. Sawada Katashi walked in, running a hand through messy wind-blown hair and looking as though he'd had a religious experience.

Emi glared, arms folded across her small chest and foot tapping expectantly.

"Did you know," Katashi began. "That the Audi had a convertible top?"

"FUCK!" Emi shrieked, and began throwing chips at the two boys in fury. Shirou laughed and held up a pillow in self-defense, while Katashi just smiled and half-closed the door to protect himself.

The fates were again kind. Katashi was just about the spitting image of his father. Granted, his hair was a bit more blond like Jii-chan's, and a bit less spiky than Tsuna's, his eyes leaned more towards amber than brown, and he wore glasses. But in all other respects, he was just like Vongola Decimo in appearance ever since he had turned 15 half a year ago, and was often mistaken for him from the back. (Even by Mr. Self-Proclaimed Right Hand Man, who after an embarrassing incident where he tried to drag Tsuna back to Katashi's room by the ear on mistake had taken to spinning them around and examining closely first.)

"Hey, I have news." Katashi tried to announce, but Shirou was too busy protecting himself from flying chips and Emi was too busy launching them. "Hey. HEY!"

"What is it, death wisher?" Emi snarled, throwing the rest of the chips at him and letting the now empty plastic bowl drop to the ground.

"OK, so you shouldn't be killing me." Katashi started laughing, and Emi looked at him in confusion. She was five seconds away from cold-blooded murder, what was there to _laugh_ about?

"You guys will never believe this. Remember the remnants of Millefiore? They banded together with some low class mafia, you know, the ones that only thrive because of the prostitution market, and they launched an attack on my Dad. Totally pathetic, by the time I left they were getting wiped out. But they have like, really huge numbers, but there's no real threat. They called in the Varia and their kids to help though."

Silence.

"They did not." Shirou's face had darkened in absolute jealousy. "They said they wouldn't involve the next generation unless it was totally serious."

"It is pretty serious." Katashi grinned. "But I think it's just because the parents pulled some strings to get them into some real combat."

Katsu, Ryouichi, Setsuko, Wakana, and Yuuto. God's jokes on the world, blessing the psychotic ass-kicking Varia with children. They were kids of Xanxus, Belphegor, Squalo, Leviathan, and Fran respectively, and all had at least 5 years on any of the Guardian's children. They were all in their twenties, and had inherited their parent's bond and interesting ways of showing it. Katsu was interestingly skilled with a staff, which some thought was an ironic throwback to the Kyuudaime that Xanxus constantly denied. Ryouichi had some badass knife-throwing action going on, Setsuko was deadly with a broadsword and two-hander, Wakana had already inherited her father's affinity for electricity, and no one really knew what Yuuto looked like for_ real _anymore, especially underneath the frog hat the others forced on him.

No one ever questioned exactly who the mothers were.

"Get this: They brought Akiko in too."

"Shamal's kid?!"

"Yeah, Kiko-nee. Can't fucking believe it."

No one ever expected Shamal to settle down with a woman. No one really believed it either, and it took his wife's firm grip and a slap that could take down a charging rhino to do it. Akiko was the world's biggest flirt and tease, but at least she knew how to make damn good use of Trident Mosquitos.

"So...what about it?"

"It means we're having a sleepover." Katashi fell on the couch next to Shirou, slinging an arm around his best friend's shoulder. "The rest of the gang's heading over already."

"Sweet." Shirou cheered, throwing his arms into the air. "That's going to be awesome."

They then noticed Emi. Her red face, rapidly clenching and unclenching hands, and spasming cheek muscles were a dead giveaway that someone needed to cool down before the house was blown up with her father's hidden stash of dynamite that he _thought _she didn't know about. She was biting the inside of her cheek angrily too, a sign that whatever intervention happened, it better not be short of a nuke exploding within the vicinity.

"Haha, cool down Emi." Katashi chuckled nervously, throwing a pleading look at Shirou. "Hey, she's your girlfriend, go calm her down."

Sighing at having to move, Shirou got up and walked over, looking Emi in the cold blue eyes. "Yo, Emi? Emi-chan?"

Unresponsive.

"You need to work on that temper." Shirou teased, before kissing her lightly on the lips. Emi reciprocated with a small noise of approval, and commenced to plop down on the couch next to Shirou.

The Rain and Storm guardians didn't know what to make of their children's relationship. It had started with Emi noticeably gravitating towards Shirou at Vongola gatherings, something Gokudera took note of in irritation and also something Yamamoto didn't even bother to notice. That had escalated into hugs that lasted a little beyond a polite embrace and Gokudera finally taking intervention when groping around the lower area became involved. Haru naturally thought it was adorable, but Yamamoto and Gokudera just didn't know what to think. Ultimately, it had turned into a threat that if they ever heard "funny noises coming from their rooms" that they could count themselves as dead.

Good enough, was all the Shirou and Emi had to say on the topic, and no one bothered to question further. Actually, it was more of "no one was stupid enough to press the topic", and the fact that Emi and Shirou never brought it up themselves didn't serve to further it.

"My dad sent out a mass text." Katashi leaned back smiling. "They called in _everyone. _And guess where the spawn get to crash?"

"I'm _not_ their babysitter." Was all Emi said in irritation, snuggling into Shirou's side. He draped a protective arm over her. "Not my problem."

The sound of a phone buzzing interrupted them, and Katashi brought his out of his pocket and fired off a quick text, his fingers flying over the keys. The Vongola was rich as fuck, and the kids weren't exactly lacking in the technology factor. Best money could buy, Emi often proclaimed, and just for the sake of having it. They had learned early on to memorize pin numbers and credit card codes. "Hey, Alessa's here already."

"Hrm?"

"She said she brought the twins and Hoshiko. The others are gonna drive here." Katashi grinned. "Of course, it's not entirely legal, but I digress."

The sound of a key turning in the lock and subsequent opening of the door caught their attention. Moments later the happy laughter of the two 9 year olds and the 7 year old was revertebrating through the halls, and they came running out into the living room.

When Fuuta had announced his plans to marry a girl he had been seeing on/off for a year or so, Tsuna had been all too happy to give him his best wishes and permission to take some time off of duty to the Vongola to enjoy his marriage that the Guardians attended. Daisuke and Chiyoko de la Stella were almost spitting images of each other. They both had their father's brown eyes, and Chiyoko had her mother's reddish-brown hair while Daisuke had his father's tan locks. Chiyoko's hair had been grown out past her hips- Daisuke liked to tug on them and watch her reaction. ("Imouto is ranked 56 out of 12498 in most likely to be angry if her hair is pulled.") As homage to their father, they each wore an oversized scarf wrapped around their necks- Chiyoko's patterned with red stars, Daisuke's green crescent moons. They were blessed with two abilities- they had Fuuta's ranking skill, and they had their mother's talent in the kitchen. Rin often dryly remarked that Chiyoko would be a dream housewife one day, with the food-ly miracles she created. (Even though she was forbidden from touching the knives.)

It was said that when Fuuta learned his wife was pregnant- with two children, no less, that he nearly had a heart attack, and someone had to whack him over the head with his ranking book to bring him back to reality.

And on the other hand, Hoshiko was the offspring of Lambo and I-Pin, a couple that had started dating at 17 and never found reason to part. It was a sappy love story that the next generation generally just gagged at- but it was true. Gokudera had been apprehensive at first about being told to babysit Hoshiko ("But...but he's the spawn of that stupid cow, Juudaime!") but soon found the kid had mostly inherited I-Pin's calm...unless you fed him sugar, which Lambo had an unfortunate habit of still carrying around at all times. Hoshiko's black hair was tied back in a short little braid, and he grinned widely at the three seated on the couch.

"Katashi-nii, Emi-nee, Shirou-nii, hey!"

"Yo Hoshiko." Shirou waved at him. "Where's Alessa?"

"Done taking care of small children." Alessa announced as she walked into the room, taking a helmet off of her head. "Fucking helmet hair."

"Wait, what?" Emi looked up at Alessa from where she was lying, an expression of total worship on her face. "You did not."

"Totally did." Alessa sat herself down on the chip-strewn ground, scratching the back of her neck and stretching out her legs. "The motorcycle got a little cramped, but, you know, it worked out and no one ended up falling."

"It was fun!" Hoshiko grinned widely, sitting himself in the corner. "There were 3 motorcycles racing us!"

"Racing?" Katashi looked at him. "What?"

"They had cool lights too!" Daisuke piped up, looking delighted at the memory. "And made really loud noises!"

"...Dino's gonna kick your ass."

"No, he's not." Alessa tossed her blonde hair. "Not when I sent Romario and everyone to fight until the battle's over and then take an impromptu vacation. And you know that being the boss's kid has perks. They don't have an order otherwise from Daddy, so they're going to listen to _me_."

"You badass." Emi held up a hand and Alessa high-fived it.

The girls were closer than Dino and Gokudera ever expected, having been thrown together very often when the Storm guardian had to make a stay in Italy. Though long distance, Alessa ended up moving to Japan permanently with finances still coming from her father. She was way too excited for when she would take over the Chiavorone family, Dino often lamented, and he often wished she had a little more reluctance.

Dino had found himself an Italian beauty when taking a vacation in his home city, and in the end they were blessed with Chiavorone Alessa, who was now 19 years old (and as Emi put it, the only legal one in their group). She had her father's hair and personality. The blond locks fell past her shoulders, her green eyes looked like they'd been stolen from her mother, and she was almost taller than Dino. Almost. She'd also developed some skill in fighting with a long chain, finding that her daddy's whip was too light and difficult to control. Seeing her light up a large metal chain with sky flames was, she noted, almost frightening as seeing the Bucking-Horse nowadays.

"The others were following me." Alessa commented, eating a stray chip off the floor. "They got into a bit of a fight from what I saw though, so they might take another minute. Mmph, who the hell bought sour cream?" She added, twisting her face into an expression of disgust.

"My Kaa-san." Katashi raised his hand. "Blame her, she loves the stuff."

Scuffling at the front door confirmed that the other car had finally arrived.

"Notice Rin, Hitomi, and Itsuki can't be in the same car together." Shirou rolled his eyes. "Ever. Which car did they take?"

"Stretch limo. It was pretty epic, the neon lights were on inside and you could see them throwing punches until someone took control of the wheel again. Someone's gonna have a fit when they see the inside of that car."

Chiyoko and Daisuke connected hands, and suddenly the chips around them were floating. Katashi reached out and plucked a couple from thin air, watching them with amusement.

"The ranking planet says that..." Daisuke concentrated, his eyes fixated on a faraway planet.

"Ryohei-san's has ranking number 3 in being angry at seeing the limo." Chiyoko finished.

"Gokudera-san is number 2."

"And Hana-san is number 1."

They exchanged surprised looks.

"Hana? Really?" Shirou voiced his skepticism, plucking another chip from the air.

"Eh, she can be pretty scary when she wants to be."

Hitomi and Rin then entered, Rin dusting off her knuckles and Hitomi wiping blood off the side of his mouth. It had been to some surprise that Ryohei and Hana had begun dating, except from Kyoko, who thought it was a match made in heaven. It _had_ been news of general hilarity though, that Hana was pregnant. The woman was famous for denying babysitting any children, even Katashi, but she grew to be a mostly loving, if not usually exasperated mother.

Hitomi had his mother's dark, wavy hair and Rin her father's silver hair, that she wore long. Rin was more of a kickboxing type than boxing, and Hitomi was way into mixed martial arts, the bandages wrapped around their arms saving them from Hana's constant inspections. If Ryohei was disappointed, he never showed it, and belted out his extreme pride for his family constantly. Rin had a white bandage on prominent display on her cheek, Hitomi, like his father, across his nose. Rin was 17, her brother 16, and they had an very close brother-sister relationship.

And of course...

"To the extreme!"

"Shut up." Was all Hibari Itsuki had to say about the matter as he stalked into the room. "Is it going to get more crowded than this?"

Most in the room were happy to note that Itsuki hadn't escaped harm. A dark bruise was forming on his cheekbone, and another two were taking form on his forearm. Despite Chrome's efforts to make her son a little less like a mini-Hibari, it hadn't worked all too well. Though he had her blue hair, he wore it in Hibari's hairstyle, and his mother's blue eyes were used to give cold, calculating stares that had far too much throwback to Hibari. He even used tonfa- though he seemed to prefer a pair of sai he'd received for his latest 15th birthday.

Everyone was amused to note that Hibird's offspring had happily attached itself to Itsuki, and it was now commonly referred to as "Kibird".

"Sorry Suki-chan~" Emi smiled innocently up at him, her voice taking on a sweet tone over the sounds of the kids playing in the corner. "We got three more coming~"

"Keh." Itsuki looked pointedly away. "I'm already tired of you guys."

"Why are you here anyway?" Katashi blinked. Itsuki was like Hibari in far too many ways- and he preferred to stay away from gatherings if he could help if. It he was forced to attend, it was with major consternation and general stick-up-the-ass behavior.

"Dad and Mom ordered me here. Why else?" Itsuki rolled his eyes and sat down, polishing blood off of his sai.

"Same with our parents, they were being extremely impatient." Hitomi advocated, plopping down next to his sister.

"Mmhm." Rin nodded. "Kaa-san was nearly having an extreme fit." Hana generally did whenever mafia-related behavior came up, and was prone to needing to sit down after having yelling fits, catching her breath. The kids were often grateful she had always refused to babysit.

A loud thump and muffled cursing came from the general direction of the door, and everyone turned towards it with an expression of surprise.

"Neh?" Katashi looked out. "Who arrived? I didn't hear the front door open."

"That's no good." Shirou frowned, and raised his voice. "Hey! Mariko? Bianca, Kenji! You guys here yet?"

Rin turned to Itsuki, frowning. "Itsuki, did you close the door on your way in?"

"Why would I bother?" Itsuki looked away, though a faint blush could be seen staining his cheeks at his mistake. "It's not my job to look after you herbivores."

Katashi took out his phone, flipping through recent texts. "They said they had at least half an hour to go before they arrived." He looked concerned. "I don't think that's them. In fact..." He pulled out a pack of Dying Will pills, ready to use them. Something was off.

Hoshiko, Daisuke, and Chiyoko had stopped playing, and were watching the scene with confused eyes.

The burst of gunfire that came through the door was quite startling, and years of training sent them straight into action. The three smaller kids, Chiyoko, Daisuke, Hoshiko, dived behind the couch, hands already covering their ears and Hoshiko making dangerously sniffly, whimpering noises. Shirou pulled Emi halfway onto his lap, folding himself over her protectively before she had time to protest, while Rin threw her baby brother behind her and held up her fists. Itsuki continued to sit calmly in the corner, though he was now holding his sai in an offensive position.

Katashi had jumped up, grabbing the first thing he could and making it light up dramatically with sky flames before spinning it like a baton.

Shirou finally spoke, above the sound of bullets ricocheting off of spinning metal. "Katashi, I love you man, but can you please try to be badass without a fireplace poker and with...I dunno, something a little cooler?"

"Eh..." Katashi sweatdropped, the sky flame on his forehead glowing proudly. "It was the first lightable thing I grabbed. It was that or the candlestick dude, and I don't think either of them are very far up in the 'cool' division."

A muffled sob from Hoshiko came from behind the couch, and the sounds of the de la Stella twins comforting him could be heard. Emi buried her face in Shirou's neck, sitting more still than he knew was comfortable for her, while Hitomi tried to find an opening around Rin so he could be the one protecting, instead of being protected.

"Hold on, here we go." Katashi announced, and the fireplace poker suddenly went sailing across the room, striking a man in the head and leaving him slumped against the ground, blood trickling slowly from a cut on his forehead.

"Well, that's no good." Shirou bit his lower lip, looking a little upset. "There are more, right?"

"Uh. Yeah. I think Dad missed something." Katashi winced as the flame on his forehead slowly died down.

"You mean Big 10 and all our parents managed to overlook the fact that we would be easy targets?" Itsuki stared at Katashi, disbelieving. What the fuck were their parents on?

"Somehow it appears that way." Katashi smiled cheerfully, peeking out the door. "So. What do we do now?"

-

_Children of the Vongola_

Kyoko/Tsuna Sawada Katashi 15  
Haru/Yamamoto Yamamoto Shirou 16  
?/Gokudera Gokudera Emi 16  
Dino/? Calvallone Alessa 19  
Chrome/Hibari Hibari Itsuki 15  
Lam/Pin Hoshiko 7  
Hana/Ryohei Sasagawa Rin 16 and Sasagawa Hitomi 17  
?/Fuuta Daisuke and Chiyoko 9  
**?/Shamal Shamal Akiko 24  
?/Xanxus Katsu 22  
?/Belphegor Ryouichi 21  
?/Squalo Setsuko 23  
?Leviathan Wakana 22  
?/Fran Yuuto 21  
Bold are only mentioned in passing, as they have been called out to fight.**

**Haha, I'm having much much fun writing this fic. I was inspired by one...I forget the name, but I believe it was called "Zio Hayato" and made me smile very much. This is part 1/2, or perhaps even 1/3, and there will be at least one more update. This is purely for my amusement, and most of the pairings are ones I at least halfway support. Geez, not much intermarriage in the Vongola, eh? x3. **

**R&R, I'd adore feedback on this.**

**- the e t e r n a l -STORY**


	2. Gunfire from Shadows

**Gunfire from Shadows: As Perilous a Combination as Alcohol and Pills**

_Chapter Two_

**-  
**

The door was barred with two couches, and everyone was fairly sure that no one was getting through the mess of wood and fabric...no matter what. It had taken some skill to squoosh the couches into a blockade, Shirou remarked good naturedly, but they'd accomplished it.

"My dad's going to have a heart attack." Katashi smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Forget your dad right now." Emi snapped, sitting cross-legged on the ground where the couch used to be, a laptop on the ground in front of her, glasses perched on her nose. A Bluetooth was clipped to her ear, and she tossed the others each one. "We need a plan. I found the spare Bluetooths under a cushion, and we have at least 50 assassins in the building- probably more, that the surveillance system hasn't picked up yet." She noted, flipping through several windows. "We don't have any weapons on us except for Katashi's poker...and Itsuki's sai." She looked up, eye twitching. "And I for one know my daddy's store of explosives is in his room, which is halfway across the castle."

A piping chorus of "I know where my dad's stuff is." "My weapons are stored in my room." And such began. The parents always assumed the kids knew less than they really did- naivety at its finest.

"Yeah, I figured." Emi rolled her eyes. "I left Anzu in her box too, damn."

Despite the parent's protests, the kids had managed to procure rings for themselves, and boxes to match. Tsuna was tempted to question exactly where they'd gotten their hands on them, but refrained. Some things he really didn't want to know, especially how involved in the Mafia his Famiglia's offspring were.

"My chain's in the motorcycle." Alessa groaned, tipping her head back. "I think Hoshiko brought the Ten-Year Bazooka with him, but that's about as far as we get. Damn, I even left my ring with it."

"So if we want to do anything, we have to get the weapons first." Emi projected a map of the ground floor of the castle onto the wall. "The Guardian's children should go together. Itsuki should go with Katashi, I think, since Hibari-san's room is near Juudaime's."

A red line marked the path, and Itsuki looked pointedly away, ignoring her. Katashi looked almost ill at having to spend the siege with Itsuki, of all people- but he couldn't argue with Emi's logic.

"I'll go with Shirou." A malevolent smile quirked the corners of her mouth up, and everyone pretended they hadn't seen. A purple line marked that path. "Yamamoto-san and Tou-san's room are also close together." She turned an eye onto Itsuki again. "If you need anything from Chrome-san's room, we can pick that up for you, Itsuki."

Itsuki contemplated a moment.

"No, there's nothing I need from her room." He turned away, looking ready to go.

"Whatever." Emi pushed her black frames up her nose. "And finally, Rin and Hitomi should take the kids to their rooms." An yellow line marked that path.

"Daddy doesn't have a weapon." Daisuke huddled closer to Chiyoko, sniffling. "We don't need to go to his room."

Hoshiko was practically full out bawling by then, but managed to get a few words out. "D-D-D-_Daa_ddy h-has a spare s-s-sET of horns in h-his drawer." He wiped at his eyes miserably. "T-to...ler...ate..."

"I'll take the twins, if it helps." Alessa stood up. "I have to go to the driveway, to get my chain."

"Gotcha." A green line marked Alessa's path. "Alright, that's all set up. Meet in the foyer when you've gotten the stuff, and if you get into trouble, call, okay?" She directed that at the smaller kids, giving them a gentle smile that definitely didn't come from Gokudera's genes.

"O-Ok, Emi-nee." Hoshiko wiped his eyes and took the hankie Rin offered him, wiping the snot off of his face. Hitomi let the boy climb onto his back, and lifted him easily. Katashi and Shirou were already removing the couch remains from the door, Katashi wielding his fireplace poker, ready to fend off another assasin.

Why so calm, you may wonder. Tsuna would certainly not have been so calm. He would have been freaking out at their age, spazzing about whether everyone was going to be ok. Even then, when Tsuna found out he was probably going to birth a cow, curse himself for not thinking enough, and possibly attempt throwing himself out a window in dismay for putting the children-that-were-no-longer-really-children in danger.

But the thing was, the offspring of the current Vongola Famiglia had been born and raised with teachings that told them what to do in the event of a shootout, how to use different weapons, how to treat wounds, and everything else someone that was expected to be involved in the Mafia would ever need to know. It was no secret that their parents planned for them to take the reins in the event of their deaths. And so- they were calm. Far calmer than their parents would have been, and more professional than could be expected.

_That's the life of a mafioso,_ Katashi supposed, as he went darting out into the hallway, Itsuko following him around the limp body of the first assasin. _Suits and wine and no fun_.

-

It should be taken note of that as soon as Itsuki vanished out the door, the lights went out. Hoshiko squealed in terror, clutching Hitomi's neck and hiding his face in the boy's hair. Hitomi grimaced, but transferred the 7 year old to his arms, comforting him. Alessa was halfway out the door, and grasped the Chiyoko and Daisuke's hands closely before proceeding. The house was bathed in eerie half light from streetlights and a crescent moon.

"Well, I should've anticipated that." Emi frowned as she closed the laptop, tucking it behind the TV that was now off. "Rin, you guys going to be ok?"

"Yeah, we're cool." Rin tugged on her brother's arm, leading him towards the door carefully. The crunch of stepped on chips echoed eerily through the room, and Hitomi nearly tripped over a severed couch leg, making Hoshiko whimper in fear again.

"Alright. Remember, foyer." Shirou grasped Emi's hand in his, giving it a comforting squeeze, before the two final pairs darted out into the castle.

-

It should also be noted that Tsuna did not design the Vongola castle, and had a very well-founded hatred of it's layout.

The entire thing, he complained, was made up of windy hallways that sometimes led to rooms and sometimes just led to a couple more windy hallways. It was very easy to get lost at first, which was why Ryohei had taken to giving printed out maps to newcomers. But once you memorized the general layout, it was nearly impossible to forget.

Alessa darted through a narrow hallway and then into a wider one, the two 9 year olds pattering at her heels. Finally she reached the door to the garage at the end of the final hallway, a gate to freedom. She then paused with her hand on the knob.

"Chiyoko?" She spoke quietly, barely above a whisper.

"Yes, Alessa-nee?" Chiyoko's voice was trembling in fear, and Alessa finally understood how her Uncle had felt when Lambo was brought into the ring conflict. A castle under siege in Italy was definitely no place to be when you were so young.

Her hand tightened around the knob. "I want you to step very carefully in front of me. There are no vibrations coming through the door. You too, Daisuke."

Carefully, and as quietly as they could, the two kids positioned themselves directly in front of her.

"I'm going to open this door as fast as I can. As soon as it's open, I want you to run to the driveway and get my chain, ring, and my two boxes from under the seat, ok?"

Her voice was carefully disguised as anything but vital instructions, so quiet the kids had to strain to hear it.

"Hai, Alessa-nee."

"And once you're out there, you run as fast as you can. Don't turn back until you get what I asked for, and don't come in until I say you can. Just hold it for me through the door, ok?"

"O-OK."

"Alright. I'm opening it...now!"

And as quickly as she could, the door was pulled wide open and the de la Stella children were running down the stairs, their footsteps so loud and gunshot-like as they clanked their way down the wood. Slamming the door closed behind her, Alessa saw the silver of the trip wire as it broke, and had the handgun she stored in her belt out and firing as she dodged around incoming bullets.

_Duck and roll. _Was all she told herself darkly. _Just hold them off until the twins get back._

-

Team Red was fending off their own attackers.

"We got over halfway through the castle." Katashi noted to Itsuki, looking grave. "That's a plus, right?"

"Shut up, herbivore." Itsuki ran one of the attackers through the chest with his sai, extracting the blood covered weapon with a sickening _squealch_. "Cover for me. My Tou-san's room is just around the corner."

"Right, gotcha." Katashi stepped over the body of the fallen enemy, doing a stab with his poker and missing. "Damn!"

A sword that was covered in dangerous looking storm flames went whistling over his head, and he grimaced at the blunder. A small burn from the flame was beginning to develop on his forehead, and he knew that the next time, the man wouldn't miss. He spun the poker dramatically, before slamming it point blank into the enemy's chest and sending him flying into a wall.

"Itsuki!" He yelled. "It'd be nice if you hurried up!"

A rustling from within the room was his only answer, and he beat a man running towards the door on the head several times. He was wishing he had his skates desperately by then, and if any more men came hurtling out of the shadows he was going to be horribly overwhelmed.

A purple light flared up behind him, and Katashi breathed a sigh of relief as Itsuki came stalking out, multiple rings on his fingers lighting up dangerously. He noticed one Mist ring was on his thumb, but didn't bother to question it. The purple fire licking at Itsuki's fingers was interesting to see, and Itsuki wasted no time in pushing one of the rings into a small purple box. Stress cracks were appearing on the ring surfaces, but dispersing the power through so many seemed to prevent them from shattering for the time being.

So like Hibari-san. Katashi sighed to himself. So like Hibari-san.

The box opened with the sound of a key turning in a lock, and something large, spiny, and purple flew out.

"Porcospino Nuvola." Itsuki intoned softly, looking almost awed. It was the closest to emotion Katashi had ever seen on the boy's face. "Dad left his spare box."

The hedgehog shuddered as it woke up, looking around with sleepy eyes. Recognizing Itsuki, it squeaked and began to absorb flames from the enemies and grow, impaling them to the walls. Blood spattered out grotesquely, and Katashi averted his eyes. _How the hell are we going to get that off of the walls?_

"What about your box?" Katashi began advancing up the hallway again, beating aside the men that still appeared and fending off the ones that followed. The poker made a satisfying _crack_ as he rammed it across a man's ribs, then again across another man's jaw. Judging by the way he was choking and the odd silhouette, he'd managed to dislocate it.

"Not there." Itsuki was refraining from talking, and his sai suddently lighting up with purple flames as well. "Left at home."

"Well let's get to my room." Was all Katashi would say on the matter, ducking under a kick and slamming his poker into the man's exposed shin. Itsuki slashed two long lines down another man's chest, viciously and without further comment.

-

Emi couldn't run as fast as Shirou. That was one of many things she held against her boyfriend.

"You run too fast!" She complained, doubling over in pain. "Damnit, slow down a moment!"

"Ah, Emi-chan..." Shirou looked pleading, Yamamoto's famous puppy-dog stare taking form across his features. "We're so close to Gokudera-san's room though, and my Tou-san's is only a little beyond it."

"If you're so dead set on getting there in record time, then carry me." Was all she groaned, sitting down on the ground and refusing to move until her legs stopped aching. Shirou had been all but dragging her for the past ten minutes across the castle, and her wrist hurt now too.

Shirou seemed to debate over this for a moment, before letting a massive grin light up his face. Bending down, he easily picked Emi up bridal-style, even though she spluttered and shrieked "Shirou, I didn't mean it-!"

"Too late~!" He sang, running again through the halls in elation.

"Don't you fucking _dare_ drop me!"

"Haha, don't worry about that. How about you call Katashi and see how he's holding up?"

Emi pressed a hand to her ear, sighing and rolling her eyes. "Katashi? Yo, Katashi?"

A muffled buzzing reply came, along with many loud thunks and what sounded like clashing metal.

"I think he's in a fight." Was all Emi could report, her brow furrowing. "He won't reply."

Shirou placed Emi gently on the ground in front of her father's room. "Well, we're here. The faster we get our shit, the faster that we can head off to help Tashi-kun then."

"That's always a plus." Emi replied as she opened the door to Gokudera's room and stepped into darkness, groping around for the false wall that held her father's dynamite. It was simple to hide dynamite in baggy clothing- Tou-san had told her the secrets himself. But when she was wearing tight fitting clothes, it made it that much more difficult, so the best she could do was loop two loaded belts around her waist and slip three medium class rings onto her fingers. Another search along the dresser and she came up with two boxes, the ones she knew that Gokudera had confiscated from her after a fight with a rival mafia's children. Really, it wasn't her fault in the _slightest..._

"Got it-" She was saying, when Shirou let out a strangled yell from behind her, and her heart jumped into her mouth.

-

It was easy for the Sasagawa kids to reach extreme speeds, even balancing a whimpering 7 year old between them.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, Hoshiko." Rin kept telling him over and over, but the kid didn't believe her at all. He settled for burying his face in her neck and sniffling, trying to hold back tears. Lambo's room was the closest, and Hoshiko had already told them (or so they thought, it was kind of hard to make out what he was saying through the stuttering) that they didn't need to go to I-Pin's room. Hitomi could only suppose that I-Pin had never taught him Gyoza Fist. Maybe she'd hoped he would never need to know it.

Hana was an apprehensive mother, something Rin and Hitomi teased her about incessantly. "Kaa-san," they would laugh. "Why did you marry a man in the mafia if you're so opposed to the lifestyle?"

Hana would always give them a calculating stare when the question cropped up, her mouth twisting into a frown. "Your Tou-san was already heavily involved in the mafia when I fell in love with him." Was her simple reply. "It was easier for us to cope with the Vongola life together, than to suffer apart."

She didn't like the idea of her children being in the Vongola either, but it was after much begging from Ryohei that she began to relent. It had started out simple- boxing practice, something she couldn't deny her husband without seeming cruel. Boxing practice evolved into two different sports, then weapons training that slowly escalated into fake shootouts and by the time Hana caught on, the kids were so deeply involved that it was impossible to tell where school life ended and mafia life began.

It didn't mean she wasn't ever angry at Ryohei. She loved her children; more than she thought she could ever show towards her offspring. They were precious to her, and the thought of losing them in a crossfire or on one of her husband's constant mysterious _missions _made her heart grow cold. She often lamented letting Ryohei involve them. They brushed it off as normal mother fretting, but knew deep down that she really was upset. So they hid their training-related wounds, protected her with laughs of "I'm fine!" and "This is just extreme training!"

_Such was the life of a mafioso_, They convinced themselves. _Deception and lying all for the sake of protecting the ones you love._

Rin deposited Hoshiko on the ground, pushing him gently towards Lambo's room. "Go get your father's horns." She told him. "We'll wait out here for you."

Hitomi was already on guard for whoever might be waiting to attack, and had his fists up in a fighting stance. Rin turned around as well, ready to whack whatever jumped out of the shadows. As it was, it caught them completely off guard when a high-pitched scream came from Lambo's room, coupled with a wretched sob and a gruff voice telling Hoshiko to "Stop moving, brat!"

-

As it turns out, gunshot wounds hurt more than Alessa had expected, but at least she could talk from experience now.

The bullet had hissed across the room, embedding itself in her lower belly and hopefully, _hopefully_, Alessa winced as she ducked, avoided any vital organs. The blood eked itself out sluggishly, staining her shirt red.

"Goddamn bastard!" She yelled, trying not to double up in pain. He father had been through worse. Her father had been through worse. It was a mantra she repeated, to keep her strong, to keep her from falling apart from agony even when her blood was dribbling out of a _hole_ in her _stomach_... She emptied the rest of the clip and pulled another gun out of the other side of her belt. "That's the last bullet you'll land on me!"

-

"Itsuki, hold them off!" Katashi yelled, running headlong into his room. "I just need a moment!"

He promptly tripped over a small mountain of dirty clothes and magazines, cursing loudly. "Fuck, wait a second..."

"Herbivore." Itsuki rolled his eyes in irritation. "This is going to take a lot longer than a second."

The hedgehog following them gave a loud squeak and rolled into several of the tailing men, turning them into bloody pancakes. Kibird was huddled in the small space between the collar of his black jacket and his neck- a perilous position that sometimes made him have to dig his talons in as lightly as possible. He whistled out his concerns for Itsuki, the little bursts of song out of place in battle.

Whirling his sai around to clear some blood off of them, (the handles were becoming slick, he was afraid he was going to lose his grip) Itsuki took out three more men before he was finally injured, a slice to the torso with a sword drawing blood from a shallow cut- no matter how slight, it still stung like hell. Kibird trilled out terror, and huddled into his neck, burying itself in his hair. "Itsuki! Itsuki!"

Katashi was fumbling around in semi-darkness, throwing aside dirty boxers and whatever else he had strewn on his bed. Finally his hands came to two boxes, and a ring that he had stolen from his father.

It was too rare to find high-class sky rings, Katashi lamented. The ring he slipped onto his finger was fine in most respects; he could make do. But after having that one try of the Vongola Sky Ring when Tsuna was looking the other way, it was like a drug. He couldn't help but to notice how impure the flame was, how much weaker it was, and already knew he could never really go back.

Slamming the ring into the first box, a pair of skates materialized on his feet, and he went speeding out into the hallway. The skates painted tracks of fire behind him and, most satisfyingly, across his enemy's faces.

"Took you long enough." Itsuki growled, rubbing blood from the side of his mouth. "Let's get back to the foyer."

Katashi was too busy controlling where he went as he rocketed across the ceiling, up walls, fueled by the sky flames that gave him his acceleration. His thumbs up that the sent Itsuki's way would suffice.

-

Emi turned around and bolted out the door, her thought in a whirl as she searched for Shirou. _Where is he is he OK what's happened_-

She caught sight of him being dragged away in a chokehold, kicking furiously at the walls and scrabbling at the thick arm around his neck, letting out strangled cries for Emi to run.

Idiot. Emi was the daughter of Gokudera Hayato. She didn't abandon her comrades- and above all, she didn't run from a fight. Her hands tightened reflexively on the dynamite slung over her hips, before she slumped. Any projectiles she threw would hurt Shirou too, so she whipped out her first box, slamming her ring into it.

Materializing in a burst of red light and heat, Anzu purred at being let out for the first time in weeks, before falling upon Emi, hissing and scratching.

"Goddamnit Anzu!" Emi nearly killed the small black cat. Of all the times to be a disobedient little _bitch_, she had to choose then. "Anzu, go fight those people over there!"

A prickly glare and then a casual sauntering off. Of course.

"ANZU!" Emi screamed, patience running out. "Do something or I'm going to personally kick your furry ass all over this castle and not let you out for another _month_!"

It doesn't seem to be quite necessary, at this point, to mention that Anzu was the daughter of Uri, and happened to be a panther. Black with red storm flames rippling out of her ears, she looked for all intents and purposes like a small black kitty.

Emi struggled with opening the other box, fumbling. "Anzu, catch!" She tossed the opened box at her cat, and a large burst of sun flames went shooting out of it. Anzu leapt into the glob, absorbing the yellow fire, before quickly and very suddenly turning into a grown panther, complete with crossed bones spurting out storm flames along her sides, and a ring around her tail that also sent out blistering red fire.

With a roar that shook the entire hallway, Anzu pounced on the men dragging Shirou away, and Emi ran after, drawing out dynamite from their pockets.

Shirou was slumped against a wall, clutching his neck and panting. A large red mark was easily seen, even in the dim lighting.

"Get off your ass, Shirou!" She yelled at him, chucking a lit stick at the men who were fleeing from Anzu's large claws. "Get your dad's sword! His room is right there!"

Shirou nodded mutely, and began to stumble towards Yamamoto-san's closed bedroom door. Emi covered his back, blowing away anyone who came close, until they circled around her to capture from behind.

"Fuck you." She hissed, throwing the dynamite up in the air.

-

_"Emi, are you listening to me?"_

_"Hai, Tou-san." Emi was lying on her back, sprawled across the green grass of their lawn. "I'm listening."_

_"You're listening, but you're not comprehending." Gokudera snapped, running a hand through his silver hair in irritation. "Emi, I'm trying to teach you something here."_

_"Mmhm." She grunted, running a hand through her silver hair that was a perfect match to his. Gokudera noticed the imitation and rolled his eyes, putting a cigarette into his mouth and lighting it lazily with a Zippo._

_"Why aren't I allowed to smoke?" Emi complained, sitting up. "You do."_

_"I happen to be comfortable with the idea of ruining my lungs for life." Gokudera replied around the cancer stick in his mouth. "I'm not comfortable with the idea of you ruining yours."_

_"You're such a dad, Dad." Sighing, she stared at his green eyes. "What did you want to teach me?" _

_"That's exactly what I want to talk about." Gokudera Hayato threw his hands into the air. It was one of those rare days when he wasn't in a suit, and he was dressed in jeans and a large unbuttoned t-shirt, bandages swathing his chest. She was 13. Her dad was home for a while, to recover from a bad mission. It was a rare event. "You're just like I used to be. You don't care about your life."_

_"You don't seem to now." Emi plucked the cigarette out of her dad's mouth and took a drag. Gokudera immediately knocked it onto the lawn, stamping it out. "Waste of a cigarette."_

_"Waste of your life." He looked angry now, and sat down next to her. "Emi, you need to learn what I did when I was your age."  
_

_"Joy, a life lesson adage." She sighed. "What did you learn? Stealing is wrong? Help little old ladies cross the street?"_

_His eyes bored into hers, and she fell silent for a moment. _

_"You never see your own life." He stated calmly. "Dr. Shamal taught me that, and I had to figure it out by myself. You're getting this lesson handed to you on a golden platter. Take note, and remember."_

_"Dad, that's so lame." She sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "I'm not a suicide bomber or anything."_

_"You think your Tou-san never sees how you are in a fight?" He had snapped back. "You charge in. You're reckless. You don't think. How are you going to help the Eleventh, the _Juuichidaime,_ if you can't even take care of yourself?"_

_"Tou-san-"_

_"Listen to me, Emi." He glared, and she could see the fierceness in it that made him Guardian of the Storm. "I'm your father. I am a blood relation and you are to be the next Guardian of Storm when your generation steps up. I am bound as your parent and as your mentor to have to care about you, and to make you care about yourself. If you die, you can't help anyone. You'd break your friend's hearts. And to do it all just because you think you're invincible," He stared at her, knowing he'd called her bluff. "Is selfish, Emi-chan."_

_-_

_Sorry, Tou-san._

"You think I'm scared of an explosion? You think I'm afraid of blowing myself up?"

The men's eyes followed the sticks of lit dynamite, watching them twist in the air as though captivated. She saw fear spark in their eyes, and that made her smile, a twisted, sadistic smile that showed her joy at their terror.

"Die."

-

**x3 I decided to publish several more chapters, maybe up to 5? I had a couple ideas that stretched this fic out a little longer, so tune in. Deepest thanks to anyone that reviewed. 3**

**I adore 8059, btw, but that wouldn't work out if I wanted children. So I used the next best thing...next!gen technical 8059. xD And I'll address Mukuro's situation in a later chapter. Thanks so much for reading. I had to publish before kungfu, so if there are errors for now, I'll correct them as soon as I get a computer again. My apologies for any mistakes.**

**- the e t e r n a l -STORY**


	3. Ruining the Moment

**Ruining the Moment: A Simple Guide to Utterly Ruining a Perfectly Fine Day**

_Chapter 3_

_-_

The suit was ruined, Tsuna thought grimly. If he ever got his hands on what remained of Millefiore, they'd at least pay for the suit.

What had once been a nice, very classy Armani suit was now a mess of grey fabric- _expensive_ grey fabric, Tsuna thought in irritation, slashed through to the skin by swords, charred at the sleeves from his Dying Will flames, soaked in some areas by blood, and all in all completely ruined. The shoes would have to go as well, he sighed. Snakeskin shoes were usually not his forte, but the meeting had come out of nowhere and he had needed to borrow a pair of Gokudera's. That was another couple hundred to his Storm Guardian in compensation, though he knew the money would sneak its way back into his bank account eventually. Gokudera always blanched at the thought of taking money from the Juudaime.

It had been a perfectly lovely day. His wife, his beautiful Kyoko, had been there to greet him for the first time in weeks, since he'd been out of the country doing negotiations with the Gabbiano family over territory. The family was fairly hostile, but after some _persuasion_, they had ended up making a mutual benefits contract. Tsuna had been altogether relieved when the business was done and over with- he could finally go home to his family and rest. Then Gokudera came barging in, yelling about Millefiore and Guardians and putting a thorough damper on the day.

The pretext was fine. The subtext was not. On the surface, it was a simple meeting with the remnants of Millefiore, which would be fine if they didn't have such past aminosity between the two families. It had been the source of many nights of aspirin and wine for Tsuna, back when he still had to deal with Byakuran and other threats of the like. Underneath the cover...it was a lot more hostile and a hell of a lot more complicated. Tsuna already knew what to expect ffrom them- why else would a fallen family call out the head of the Vongola to "meet with them over territories"? The Millefiore had no territory left. They were clearly desperate, and Tsuna knew if he didn't oblige them this, they would attack on his own ground and probably cause property damage. Joy.

That was why it had become necessary to hide his Guardians in the back of the second stretch limo (the one Tsuna felt they could afford to lose in the crossfire) and call in reinforcements that would charge in within 5 minutes of battle start, for the fight that was definitely going to break out. And it had. Tsuna's Hyper Intuition had once again been dead on, which was why he was now standing in the middle of a mud-choked field, battling weeds and low-class Mafia as they both tried to bring about his death.

The fire on his forehead burned crisply, the X-Gloves Version Vongola Ring working fine. It was becoming far too easy to cut down the hordes of men shooting at him, but they had an advangtage in sheer numbers and goddamnit, Tsuna was getting tired. When he got home, a hot bath was in order.

Gokudera was standing about 20 feet away, underneath a tree. His Sistema C.A.I. was perfectly in order as usual, and Uri was roaring and cutting down opponents like a hot knife through butter. Tsuna had long learned not to fear the massive cat...he still only ever attacked Gokudera in his fits of rage. But Gokudera seemed to be doing fine, in all respects, though his silver hair was sticking to the back of his neck and he was gritting his teeth as he drove back the attackers. The gash that crossed his chest, laying his shirt open, deserved a looking at and the cuts that marred his face looked painful.

Yamamoto was standing on the other side of the tree, Shigure Kintoki wielded proudly as he sliced through the foes with his Rain flames and steel blade. A jagged cut was running down his arm, dripping blood, and Tsuna was tempted to make Yamamoto go and get it treated, but he seemed to have not even noticed it. A large whirling discus of a shield came flying in front of him as he missed hitting an opponent- at least Gokudera was looking out for his teammate.

Unsurprisingly, Hibari had not gone along with the plan. He was busy in Japan, and had not been able to come in time. Tsuna didn't mind too much. It would have meant finishing the fight much faster, he reflected as he punched a man in the gut (he went down gurgling, flames sizzling at his skin), but otherwise not much of a difference. Hibari probably would have regarded it as a waste of time and not attended anyway, if he was there.

His wife, Chrome, on the other hand was fighting back to back with Mukuro, and Tsuna could see from there the pillars of fire and choking tendrils of vines that were bringing down the men around them- slowly, he conceded, but effectively. It had taken much doing to get Mukuro released from prison, he had to admit, but once it was done (and Vongola rather indebted to Vendicare as a result) he proved to be a good member of his family...when he was around.

It was a pity Basil couldn't make it to the battle. He was traveling with Iemitsu to investigate a rival mafia's sudden surge in resources, and was probably beating himself up at not being on hand to help. Tsuna had reassured him that it would all be fine, and they had enough people, but he knew how Basil was still going to react. Dino had dropped off his daughter earlier that day, apologizing profusely at not being able to stay and hurrying off to deal with business concerning the Chiavorone family.

Lambo was holding his own as well, and I-Pin was standing barely 3 feet from him, defending his back. The Electrico Cuoio was proving to be a valuable asset, and I-Pin's martial arts skill was unprecedented. Though 10 years younger than the rest of their allies, they were more than competent. It made Tsuna happy.

What made him very unhappy was the fact that Kyoko and Haru were on the battlefield with them. Granted, they were hiding behind the shell of the limo and doing first aid, but it made his heart grow cold to think they were in remote danger.

Kyoko's Sun Flame was being put to good use, the ring on her finger glowing with gentle yellow fire that she passed over open wounds, giving her all to make them heal properly and quickly so they could go and help her husband again. Ryohei was on guard duty for them, mercilessly beating the living shit out of anyone who dared to come too close. Haru was coping her best with traditional bandages and disinfectent, prepping for Kyoko to help the medical team heal them up. Lussuria was coming in handy there at least- and a pair of scissors were lying on the hood of the car, to chop off the bangs of anyone whose hair had grown out of control. A gun was lying beside Haru- for use, just in case. Tsuna hated to have them dirty their hands for his sake, but it was at their insistance. It was a critical battle, Kyoko had argued with him when he tried to make her stay at the castle. She could be useful, instead of staying at home and having to worry.

Tsuna could see Yamamoto often quickly glancing over at the car, worry spiking over his features at Haru. He knew how Yamamoto felt about bullets, and even more so about his wife having to be in the midst of a fight. Lal was on guard duty as well with Bianchi, and her boxes were coming in handy as she beat off anyone stupid enough to attack her. Fuuta sat nearby, busy swathing a half-healed wound in bandages.

"Gokudera!" He spoke into the microphone hanging in front of his mouth. "Gokudera, you there?"

"Juudaime!" The voice came cracking crisply over the link immediately. "What is it?"

"Are you picking up some sort of interference on the links?" Tsuna questioned, his brow furrowing. There were odd sounds he couldn't place coming over the waves- faint buzzing and clashing, and what sounded like pained grunts.

"Yes..." Gokudera whirled to defend from a barrage of cloud-flame bullets. "I can hear it. What is it, Juudaime?"

"I'm not sure." Tsuna pursed his lips as he beat kicked one man out of the way, barely dodging a well-aimed punch to the gut. "I'll have to look into it once we're finished here."

"Right, Juudaime." Gokudera fell silent again as he turned his attention back to the fight, and Tsuna continued to think. What could the interference be? It could only be from one of the Vongola's communicators, as they were on private airwaves.

_No matter._ He thought to himself, reprimanding. _Focus on now__._

_-_

"VROIIIIIII!" Squalo roared, tearing through a gathered cluster of Millefiore men. "So weak! I can cut through you like you're not there!"

The Varia were stationed on the other side of the field, mostly because Tsuna didn't want to have to deal with the headache they often brought along with them. Out of necessity, Squalo was not allowed a microphone. It was quite obvious why, from the way the man was bellowing his lungs out. Inevitably, Xanxus had refused to join in the fight, sending his son in his stead. Katsu didn't look all too pleased at being there either, but he was whirling a flame-covered staff over his head and taking out the men around him like someone with far more experience than he really had.

Lussuria was on medical team duty- unsurprising, while Levi was standing quite far away with his stupid umbrellas out, shocking the men in its radius, and Bel was having far too much fun stabbing people through with his oddly shaped knives. Fran had also refused to go, stating he was on vacation and "wasn't spending any more time with Belphegor than was necessary." Squalo had threatened death but the illusionist was unaffected, sending his son in replacement as well. Yuuto looked overjoyed at being asked to fight- though it was hard to tell past the large frog hat.

Shamal happened to be stationed there as well, told to keep an eye on them. He was sitting calmly on a blanket next to his daughter, Akiko, carelessly directing Trident Mosquitos towards men that ventured too close.

"This is so boring, daddy." Akiko frowned, lying back. "You never told me battling was so boring."

"Ah, Akiko." Shamal sighed, leaning back. "If you're bored, just take a nap. It doesn't matter much."

Akiko didn't dispute that, and turned onto her side, falling asleep within seconds. Shamal had never failed to marvel at that- she had the ability to fall asleep whenever she felt like it, regardless of how tired she was. It was an interesting skill.

"Vraaaaaaaiiii!" Setsuko approached them, her broadsword held threateningly up, coated in rain flames. "What are you two lazing about for? Get a move on!"

"You're too like your father, Setsuko-chan." Shamal closed his eyes, looking bored. "You'd be cute otherwise."

"SHUT UPPPPPP, PEDO!" Setsuko cleaved through an enemy's shoulder blade, before finishing him up. "Lazy asshole!"

"The Prince wants you to shut up." Ryouichi was standing a short ways away, throwing knives that were hanging loosely from belt loops all over his body, complaining loudly as people around him fell over in pain, clutching at metal handles that were suddenly buried up to their hilts in various parts of their bodies.

"Shut the fuck up, Ichi." Wakana rolled her eyes, throwing handfuls of needles that pierced through vital parts of the enemy's bodies. Electricity was coursing through her body and into the needles, making her long black hair stand up in a dangerously comical look. "And if you dad's also a 'Prince', how can you both call yourselves princes?"

"Shishishi~" Ryouichi mimicked his dad's laugh sarcastically. "I can interpret prince how I want. And the Prince wants Setsuko to shut up."

"Vraaaaaaaaai! You don't order me around!" Setsuko yelled at Ryouichi. Yuuto stood a short ways away, while people around him slowly fell still, tranfixed at the illusion they were being exposed to, while Katsu resolutely ignored the Trash that was his teammates and continued to kick people's asses.

"Setsuko!" Squalo yelled at his daughter angrily. "Concentrate on your fight and stop bitching- BEL WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!"

Bel was squatting next to a dead body and retrieving one of his knives, licking the blood off of the steel. "Shishishi~" He giggled. "Is this bothering you, Squalo?"

"Disgusting bastard!" Setsuko and her father roared at the same time. "Get back to fighting!" Squalo ordered, while Setsuko turned back to yelling at Wakana, who in turn started raving back at her about how fucking lazy Ryouichi was and suddenly both girls were on _his _case instead, before they turned their abuse onto the asleep and "useless bitch" Akiko and onto the "damn boss!" Katsu.

It was a good fight.

-

It was often said that Yamamoto liked everything. Certainly, he liked baseball, he loved his wife and son, he liked the mafia life and Famiglia. But he hated the _schtick_ of a blade through flesh, the small resistence that skin and bone gave before being cleanly cleaved apart as though he was making some sick sort of sushi. He hated the red of blood and the yells of the dying, the blank stare of the dead and how something so beautiful like his swallow could break skin and draw blood. He hated how Haru kept her gun so close to her side, ready to pick it up and start shooting with the technique _he_ had taught her at her insistence.

He hated how something that should be so innocent could turn into a sympathy-numbed, cold-eyed killer at any moment.

He hated how he could never feel safe without Shigure Kintoki propped next to their dresser. Innocently leaning against the wall, it commanded attention. _I take lives_. It seemed to proclaim. _I have killed at a man's hands_.

He hated killing. But he did it anyway. For his son, for his beautiful Haru, for the future of a family that he was tangled in as deeply as could be. With the help of the dog that was standing at his side, fueled by rain flames and the bird that was swooping above him, with names so like Shirou's. With the Asari Ugetsu he wielded like an extension of his arm.

He was the Guardian of Rain, and the blood that he washed away masked his pain with it.

-

Gokudera liked to say that he was totally focused whenever he fought, but he really wasn't.

He thought about many things, when he was fighting. Somehow in the midst of adrenaline rush and firing off large bursts of Storm Flame (he shot off one then, coated with Cloud to take out an large bunch of Millefiore) he found peace and time to think over things.

One of the most common topics was his wife, Feliciana, and his daughter, Emi. He loved his wife, with all of his heart, and knew her to be a very competent woman. She was of the Aquila family, one allied with the Vongola and fairly small. But she _was_ an assasin, and though female assasins couldn't be called rare, the good ones certainly were, and she was definitely one of the good ones. He could trust her to protect and take care of herself.

Emi, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. He finally understood how exasperated Shamal had been with him as a child. Emi was a good kid- she took after him in so many ways. The way she glared at people, the silver of her hair, and her unfortunate choice of attire. He had yelled at Bianchi for hours on that topic, until she finally ended it by taking off her goggles and sending him to the ground, clutching his stomach while Emi stood laughing in a corner. She had the same flames as him, the same personality in many ways, she even had a cat that was as much of a bitch as Uri, and he was hoping to teach her how to use the Sistema C.A.I. when she was mature enough.

No one could ever accuse him of not loving his daughter.

But she was stubborn in ways he had not been, and he often wondered how large the differences between them were in comparison to the similarities. He had told her outright about having to worry about herself in a fight. But she was different, unlike him. He had been reckless in attempts to protect his friends and sacrifice himself for the Juudaime if necessary. She didn't seem to have any such goal, instead just running out there, guns blazing for the _sake of running out there_. It confused him to no end.

He often wondered how he could make her listen.

But then he would reflect that she always heard him. Her "Yes, Tou-san." "Yes, father." and "Alright, I get it." rang in his ears each time.

But what would it take to make her comprehend?

She was his daughter. He was bound as a father to care about her. But seeing her being such an absolutely stupid, ridiculous, idiotic teenager made Gokudera worry all the more for her safety, and all the time. He had once pulled Shirou aside, and the boy had given him a smile that screamed _"Baseball idiot's son!"_ at him with impunity. It was enough to make him grit his teeth and give up (what Emi saw in him, he would never know) but he had persevered and told Shirou very matter of factly that if he ever failed to protect his daughter, Uncle Hayato would be coming after him.

It was to the boy's credit, he admitted grudgingly, that he had just smiled happily and promised he would never allow Emi injury if he was around.

He wondered how she was doing now.

-

It was not his responsibility to worry about Itsuki. Hibari had told his son that many times before, and was now telling that to himself. Itsuki could and would take care of himself, end of story. Itsuki never disputed those words, merely nodding and going off on his own. Hibari saw himself in Itsuki's eyes.

Itsuki certainly took after Chrome in looks. The blue hair could only come from his wife, as with the two eyes that reflected a clear, pure sapphire. But the looks he could give, that rivaled his own glares, the way he wielded tonfa (though much more clumsily than his father), and the way he draped a jacket across his back with a bird sitting in a nest of hair. That could only come from a child who grew up modeling himself after Hibari.

Hibari had been surprised when Chrome had presented their now 15 year old son with a pair of sharp, steel sai. "Kyouya, don't make that face." She had murmured quietly, once Itsuki had nodded his thanks and walked off, spinning the weapons in his hands, testing their weight. "It's only natural he find his own way of fighting." He had thought- no, he had _assumed, _just as he always did, that Itsuki would choose the thing that he would have chosen.

His son was like him in so many ways, independent and strong, proud and aloof. But Hibari had to wonder how much was of blind imitation of his father, and how much was really Itsuki.

Sitting in his study in the Vongola base in Japan, sipping a hot cup of tea and with an array of boxes spread out over his desk, Hibari got up, slipping a ring onto his finger and bringing out his cellphone to book a flight to Italy. He didn't bother to tell Shouichi or Spanner that he was leaving. He hated how his son made him have to care.

-

There was nothing more productive to Ryohei than protecting his sister and her best friend. He could have been off taking out people, screaming "EXTREME!!!" as he beat up the people that threatened his family. And it wasn't as though he didn't trust Lal Mirch and Bianchi, he did with his life. But that would have meant putting the Vongola above his family and as good a Guardian as he was, he couldn't possibly allow that. Tsuna understood and respected that fact.

Rin and Hitomi were his children, and took after him in their love for fighting. Sure, it had broken his heart a little when Hitomi, at the tender age of 7, decided he wanted to do mixed instead of boxing, and Rin had decided long ago that her heart belonged with kickboxing. But they were old enough to choose, and he couldn't well _force_ his kids to love boxing more, so he gave in without a fight. The awards they brought home and the smiles on their faces were more than enough to placate him, and it was his love for them and Hana, his wife, that drove him to fight even harder for their sakes.

"EXTREME PUNCH!" He yelled to the skies, sending a man flying very, very far away.

-

Dino couldn't very well leave Tsuna to fight alone. He had ordered Romario and a small band of his men to stay with Tsuna, protecting the Juudaime (although Tsuna insisted he didn't need it) while he took the rest of the Chiavorone family to handle a dispute in another area of Italy.

Dino worried often about his little brother, but he knew that Reborn had trained him well. His daughter, however, garnered more attention.

She had been pretty angry, when he had dropped her off like a child to daycare that morning, so he took it as a temper tantrum that she refused to answer the phone that was ringing nonstop in her pocket, buzzing gently among gunfure.

-

Lambo and I-Pin were still young, in mind if not in body. Lambo thought I-Pin looked beautiful, albeit deadly, as she whirled and snapped out her legs and arms, breaking bones and killing with simple, clean gestures. Her braids flew out behind her, something she had never bothered to cut but just continued to coil. They were now wrapped into a bun on the back of her head, and only close scrutiny showed the detail of the braids.

His Electrico Cornuta was coming much in handy, the range improved by the horns he held in his hands. He and I-Pin had debated for hours on a way of heightening the range on the atack, until finally agreeing on that. It was just one of the things they'd taken under consideration, before they'd married.

And now they had Hoshiko, who looked so adorable and innocent all the time. Lambo wasn't entirely sure he wanted his son to join into mafia life. It seemed like it suited him so badly. He knew he had been an eager hitman, back when he was 5, but Hoshiko was anything but eager and certainly not cut out for the lifestyle being a mafioso brought. I-Pin didn't dispute his opinion, merely smiling that gentle smile and telling him to "Wait, and time would tell."

But he was selfish, and knew if it was his choice, his son would never fall into mafia affairs. He hoped there would never come a time when he would need to.

-

Chrome wasn't tired in the least, but Mukuro kept asking if she was ok.

She supposed it was because he had spent so many years taking care of her, creating her illusionary organs that sustained her to that very day. But once she had the Vongola Ring, it was easy to create them herself, but the habit of asking Chrome if she was alright seemed to stick. It was odd seeing Mukuro and knowing he wasn't an illusion, feeling real warmth from his body as they fought back to back, knowing he no longer needed her to sustain himself.

But, she reprimanded herself, she had learned how to survive on her own years ago, and could manage. It didn't stop Mukuro from caring though, or insisting upon becoming Itsuki's godfather. Chrome didn't mind, and Kyouya didn't care.

Chrome just supposed Mukuro would always, somehow, be a part of and involved with her life, from seeing him interact with her son to remembering him with every time her organs faltered for a split second. She certainly didn't mind- and she had already asked Kyouya if it bothered him. Kyouya at least offered her that comfort: he understood her and Mukuro's relationship.

Chrome and Mukuro had used to be one, and it's impossible to let go once you've had a bond like that.

-

Kyoko understood all too well why Tsuna was fighting, and it was a blessing to him that she never left him, through it all.

A long, long time ago she had threatened to boycott housecleaning and cooking with Haru until they were told the truth. But she understood why Tsuna was so overprotective of her. She often felt the need to protect him too, but that was a much harder undertaking. She could only help him in the small things- a comforting warmth in bed, a kiss when he was brooding and upset, a home to look forward to. A son to cherish.

She didn't like how Tsuna was forced to dirty his hands, and tried to keep mafia and home life as separate as she could. But the mafia always wormed its way in somehow, in the form of parties that catered to dark strangers, gatherings with the Guardians (much nicer than the former), and the guns that were hidden in so many places over the house. But she dealt with it. She and Haru had known the boys since the mafia had snuck its tendrils into their lives, stealing and corrupting the ones they knew and loved.

Kyoko was in no way cut out for mafia life. But she was cut out for Tsuna, and that was good enough for her.

-

_I have to hurry home to check on Katashi_. Tsuna thought to himself fervently. He didn't know why, but something was niggling at him, telling him to finish up and hurry home. He had been in the business long enough to know to trust his instincts. And his intuition told him something wasn't going right at home.

It would only solidify as a choking, smothering, burning pain in his chest, when he got the radio call that told him Vongola Castle was under attack, and the children were in the midst of it.

-

**I pity Tsuna a lot. Really. And I also took a long time writing this because I wanted to avoid sounding like a stupid fangirl. Next chapter goes back to the children...fun, eh?**

**- the e t e r n a l -STORY**


	4. Conspiracies

**Conspiracies: Eventually You See Them In Everything**

_Chapter 4_

_-_

Hoshiko didn't deal with stressful situations well. Actually, scratch that. Hoshiko had inherited Lambo's panic mode, which meant when he was involved in a stressful situation, his first instinct was to bury his head in his arms and cry, while running in the opposite direction as fast as possible. Thankfully I-Pin's genes kind of balanced that out, but not by much...

So when the small boy had run into his daddy's dark room only to find a hulking monster of a man waiting for him and grabbing him with meaty hands that _wrapped around his waist without even trying_, he found himself at a slight disadvantage. It was to no one's surprise that Hoshiko's face had quickly crumpled, and that he burst into horrified tears that brought Rin and Hoshiko running to his aid, cursing themselves for not realizing the possibility of ambush.

"Stop moving, brat!" The man had growled at him, as Hoshiko began desperately wriggling around and trying to find a way out of his hands that he clamped together even tighter. That only made his tears grow even more out of control, and he could see the blurs of the Sasagawa kids running into the room.

"Hoshiko!?" Rin looked around the room before her eyes settled on the struggling kid. "Oh god-" She sent a powerful kick towards the man, but he batted her away like she was a rag doll. Rin went down in a startlingly loud breaking of plaster and wood, straight through the wall and into the hallway outside, scattering dust everywhere in the dim light. Hitomi's mouth fell open in shock, before fury blossomed in his eyes.

"Bastard!" Hitomi roared, cocking his fist and letting an extreme punch loose. "That's my _sister!_"

But the punch was equally ineffective, the giant merely throwing him into the headboard, letting the boy slide down the splintered wood that was slickened by his own blood, nearly unconscious.

Hoshiko cried out in panic. "Rin-nee! Tomi-nii!" But the only reply he got was a weak moan from the hole that Rin had gone through and the sick dripping of blood from Hitomi. Hoshiko's sobs became more erratic. "Rin-nee! Rin-nee, help me!" He pleaded.

"Shut up." Was all the assassin growled at him, but Hoshiko was becoming hysterical in the man's tight grip. "RIN-NEE!"

"I said shut up!" Angry, the man tried to hit Hoshiko across the face but instead got Hoshiko's sharp teeth digging into his skin so hard that they drew blood.

Startled, he faltered for a moment, dropping the boy, and Hoshiko took the opportunity to crawl beneath the ruined bed, whimpering hysterically. His foot brushed against something that seemed to be made of cool metal and plastic, and he drew it in front of his face, squinting.

Lambo's 10 Year Bazooka was staring him in the face.

The sudden silence made Rin force herself to stand up, ignoring the blood and plaster that was everywhere. Ugh, the dust was in her wounds and it _stung _like a bitch. But she stumbled back through the wall, calling the small boy's name desperately. "Hoshiko!" Her voice cracked, as she prepared to defend herself from the assasin and braced herself for what she might find.

"Rin-nee-!" The last thing she saw was a large tube flying towards her, Hoshiko trapped in its mouth, and a sudden thought of '_Oh shit-'_

And then she was gone.

-

Hitomi was staring at the scene with glazed eyes. The pain of a thousand splinters digging into his back and the wood that was stabbing into him at all angles was nothing, he would later protest. But the smell of blood, the slickness of his hands as he feebly stirred, was far worse. He didn't know how on earth his father survived the pain of destroying his knuckles over and over again, even if his Sun flames healed it up within seconds. But they had gone to Hoshiko's room first, he lamented. A stupid idea. Rin and Hitomi were unarmed, except with fists.

But he could see the puff of flames that rose from where the haggard body of his sister had been standing, and he coughed, the smoke getting into his eyes and making them water. As soon as they were clear again, he blinked several times.

"What?" He croaked hoarsely, bewildered.

A young man, probably about 15 years old, was standing in the middle of the room, blinking and coughing while waving away remnants of bazooka smoke. He was wearing a red t-shirt with large yellow characters in a foreign language printed on it and black basketball shorts- and carrying a ramen noodle container. His hair hung in a short braid down his back, and he looked around in confusion.

"Ah!" The boy suddenly blinked, staring at Hitomi. "Tomi-nii. Is this some new extreme training?"

On the other hand, someone he recognized immediately was also recovering from the smoke, and Hitomi's jaw nearly fell off. Straightening up, brushing long silver hair back from her face, was _his sister_.

But her hair was longer than it was now, Hitomi noticed, confused. She was wearing different clothes, as well, and a sun box was hanging from her hip.

"Damn you, Hoshiko." Rin said, in a voice that was a little deeper than her current one, and straightening a blue kickboxing uniform. "I hate Lambo-san's bazooka."

The boy, who Hitomi guessed was Hoshiko from the future (Hoshiko? HOSHIKO?!) spread his hands helplessly, shrugging. "I don't have control over this, Rin-nee." He spluttered. "But I remember this. It's the Vongola Castle Raid."

Rin looked around, comprehending. "Ah, yeah. Should we take out that guy then?"

"Mmhm."

Rin turned around to look at Hitomi reassuringly, assessing her baby brother's wounds. He wouldn't bleed out soon, that was a blessing.

"We're here now, otouto-chan." She smiled at him as she pushed a lit ring into the box at her waist. "Don't worry anymore."

-

Daisuke was tugging Chiyoko by the hand, urging her to run faster. The driveway was a large strip of road that curved its way up the hill that Vongola castle rested on, and unfortunately Alessa had chosen to park near the bottom instead of pushing her precious motorcycle's engine to make the uphill climb. Chiyoko nearly fell several times, but Daisuke kept resolutely pulling along, their scarves flapping out behind them as they ran.

"My legs hurt." Chiyoko whimpered once, and Daisuke slowed down but didn't stop.

"Alessa-nee's fighting." He urged her. "We have to hurry, imouto."

Finally, _finally_, they reached the orange motorcycle and Chiyoko wasted no time in flipping the false cover on the seat up, revealing a compartment with Alessa-nee's weapons. Daisuke slung the heavy chain around his neck, while Chiyoko filled her hands with the two boxes, slipping rings onto her fingers.

Then the two looked at the steep hill they had to climb again. Daisuke nearly fell over in despair.

"Ah..." Chiyoko sweatdropped. "Let's go, onii-chan."

-

Emi was standing there, waiting for everything to blow to pieces, when a blade whistled over her head and a warm body was suddenly standing in front of her, holding a baseball bat turned sword.

There was a small silence as the men around them fell prey to the bombs still falling, the ones in Emi's proximity having been disarmed. They were lying over the ground, split in half and leaking gunpowder.

"What the fuck was that, Shirou?!" She broke the silence with a yell, pointing at the ruined bombs on the ground. "What the fuck was that?!"

Shirou straightened, holding the blade in his hands gingerly. His dad had been teaching him the basics of Shigure Souen, his ojii-chan having completely rejected Shirou's pleads to be taught. "It's not my job anymore." Was all he'd said, before handing the boy a platter of sushi. "Table four." And Shirou had taken the plate without an argument, having long since learned what a smack with the bamboo stick leaning against the wall felt like.

But he was in no way a master of the blade like his dad. He found swinging it like a baseball bat often worked, but Yamamoto would always just roll his eyes and smack the boy on the head. "That's not a style!" He would reprimand. "Listen to your dad, eh?"

-

_Shirou swiped again and again at the rolled bamboo mat, but the Shigure Souen style made his hands clumsy and even years of baseball couldn't force enough strength into his arms to go more than halfway through. "Dad..." He complained, trying again, but the awkward position of his arms made it impossible to gather enough strength. _

_Yamamoto had sighed, before taking the sword gently from his son and demonstrating the eighth form again. Even doing it slowly, he still sliced through the mat with ease. _

_Shirou plopped down on the ground, exasperated. "Dad, I really don't understand it. I can swing it like a baseball bat and go through three. If I try to use Shigure Souen I can't even cut through one. What's the point of me learning a style if it makes me useless? And you're not even supposed to be allowed to show me the form again." He pointed out._

_Yamamoto had flopped onto the floor next to him, a hand passing over the scar on his chin. "Maa, maa Shirou." He calmed his son. "It just takes practice, neh?"_

_"No, it doesn't." Shirou looked exasperated. "Ojii-chan told me about when _you_ were learning. You got the hang of it at once." He threw his hands up in the air. "It's been two weeks, and I still can't even cut through one target. Maybe I just didn't inherit sword skills from you or something. Maybe I'm not the successor."_

_Yamamoto's eyes darkened in warning. "Two weeks isn't much." He murmured to his son. "Don't give up just yet." And it was an order, instead of a suggestion. Yamamoto rarely gave his son straight orders, but the tone was unmistakable._

_"...Hai, tou-san." Shirou had muttered, looking rebellious. _

-

"Huh?!" Emi was still ranting, and he gently put a hand over her mouth. Glaring at him, she silently demanded an answer.

"Your dad would kick my ass if I let you get hurt." Was all he said, smiling. "Let's get rid of the rest of these creeps."

"With a sword?" Emi knew about his predicament with Shigure Souen already. "You can't wield a sword to save your life."

"Hahaha!" Shirou laughed. "You told me to, and I just grabbed the first baseball bat I saw, sorry. I have my own weapons in my pocket already."

Emi frowned, knowing all her weapons were at home. She was skilled with dynamite, that was definitely a plus, but she was no master like her father. Anzu took out an approaching assasin with a roar and a spray of blood. "Then get it out. I have to make do with tou-san's stuff for now."

"Haha, alright." He drew out a box, placing a ring crackling with green flames into it. "It'll work out." He grinned as a pair of kusari-gama came out, quickly spinning one sickles on its chain over his head and wielding the other in his free hand. They lit up and started spitting out green Lightning flames.

"I wish I hadn't left my claws back in Japan." Was all Emi lamented, drawing out more dynamite. Shirou kind of lamented it too, he had seen Emi fight before with them and it was like letting a feral cat out. The targets had been ripped to shreds by the time she was finished and repairs had to be made to the training room she'd been in as remaining Storm flames destroyed what was left of the walls.

"Well, time to finish the job." Shirou said, rushing forwards the direction of the parlor. Emi just nodded and followed him, throwing out a fistful of dynamite.

"Right behind you!" She said as she pressed a hand to the Bluetooth on her ear. "Katashi? Yo, you there?"

A faint buzzing came over the line before a voice grunted, "Yeah".

"What's going on over there?" She ducked a scythe that went over her head, blowing the other guy away at once. A gunshot nicked her side but she rolled and threw more dynamite in that direction. A satisfying fountain of blood went up in response.

There was a low groan. "We're getting slaughtered, Emi."

Emi looked up and saw Shirou struggling with two guys that were using clubs, and slammed her shoulder into one, giving Shirou the advantage he needed to cleave large slashes into their arms. "Ugh. We are too."

"How do they get so many men?" Katashi's voice suddenly went much, much higher than usual and they heard a loud crash over the headphones. Shirou winced in sympathy.

Itsuki's voice suddenly came over the link. "Idiot got himself kicked." He said in a noncommittal voice, before disconnecting the line.

Emi's brow furrowed. It was true, altogether they must have taken out over a hundred men already and there seemed to be _more_. An attack was one thing, having so many people inside Vongola Castle was another. How had anyone managed to send so many assassins into their home? It had impeccable timing too, the one night that no guards happened to be at the house and none of the Guardians either. Emi had seen her father spluttering to himself that morning, about a meeting that had popped out of nowhere.

The timing was too good.

And on top of that, Emi knew that there was going to be a battle going down and that the Guardians were presumably fighting in it. The Millefiore name had popped up several times, and a quick hack into the network, courtesy of her cousin Kenji, had shown an extensive battle history and record of the Vongola and Millefiore. Emi had never even imagined that such a weak-ass family could have once been the biggest threat to Vongola. But no matter how many people the Millefiore had gathered, there was no way in hell that they had gotten enough to send so large a team to the Vongola Castle and have planned to fight off the core of Vongola at the same time in different locations.

The people were too skilled as well, Emi noted. Low-class mafia fought dirty, with bullets, not hand-to-hand. And the only thing that could fit that scenario Emi had thought out...

_A coup d'etat?_

Dodging another swipe with a large mace, Emi sent the man flying into the walls and realized why there seemed to be so many. Their attacks were damaging the men, yes, but they were getting up and attacking again after faking being knocked out. These weren't untrained professionals. These were the real deal.

She whirled around in horror, seeing the man she thought she'd taken out rear back over her, his appearance changing before her eyes. So they had Mist users on their side. Emi dove out of the way as the mace went whistling towards her head.

"Shirou!" She heard her voice scream. There were more men coming towards them from behind, there were ones in front of them, and there were way more streaming into the Castle as they spoke. They were going to be crushed by sheer numbers. "Get the others on the line, and run!"

-

It was to Itsuki's credit that he figured it out about the same time that Emi did.

Of course, he had a bit of a large clue, and that was seeing one of the men that he'd beaten down get back up in 5 minutes, his wound completely sealed off and blood slowly vanishing, his face warping into an entirely different one. Itsuki wasn't blind to illusions, but he wasn't bad at seeing when there was one. Being babysat by Uncle Mukuro had taken care of that. Looking around, he saw an interesting pattern of several people with a faint aura of Mist flames hanging around them, darting around attacks but never attacking themselves.

With a quick slash that the closest Mist user never saw coming, Itsuki ripped a jagged hole into his throat and he went down gurgling in panic. At once, at least 5 men fell from wounds that appeared out of nowhere into puddles of their own blood. Itsuki recognized his own handiwork, as Shirou's voice came over the line he'd disconnected several minutes ago.

"They're healing up with illusions!" The herbivore was yelling, almost incomprehensible in panic. "Take out the Mist users, or they'll keep coming back! There are more coming into the castle, so get back to the foyer as fast as you can!"

Emi's voice came through with a flurry of static. "If you value your fucking life, run!"

Katashi looked over at Itsuki, asking for permission. Itsuki glared back, giving him a look before saying in a cold voice, "If you even think of carrying me back, you're going to be bitten to death."

"Oh come on, Itsuki!" Katashi groaned, barelling into a Mist user and sending several more men down from reappearing wounds. "How else are we going to get back in time? Seriously- ITSUKI!"

The yell had come from a man suddenly surging up from the ground in front of the boy, and pinning him to the wall with a gun against the blue-haired boy's head. His wrists were pinned together by one hand, and he was left with his feet hanging half a foot off the ground.

"If you value your life, surrender now." He hissed, through a mouthful of teeth and blood. "Put down your weapons."

There was a pause as everything and everyone stopped moving for a moment, staring at the two. Itsuki broke it by sinking his teeth into the man's neck, savagely spitting out blood as he fell and rammed him through the eye with a sai.

"...Itsuki." Katashi sweatdropped. "I don't think that's what your dad meant when he said "You should bite people to death"."

"I'll take my father's words how I want." Itsuki replied calmly, wiping blood off the side of his mouth. "Now clear a path for me, so we can get to the foyer, herbivore."

-

Alessa was inherently grateful that the foyer wasn't far from the garage. She didn't think she'd be able to make it very far after this fight was over. She really couldn't believe how long it was taking the twins- did they take a detour or something? Irritation was spiking, but she finally heard a loud knocking on the door and yanked it open, still firing with one hand. Without a word, she took the weapons (well, more of _snatched_) and slammed the door closed before bullets could make their way through, yelling "Get to the bottom of the stairs!" She wouldn't let them be shot through the door.

She saw their faces twist in fear as bullets went over their heads. They obeyed her orders, she knew. She knew.

Slamming a sky ring into one of her boxes, a large bird came shooting out, screeching loudly at the bullets that were melting at contact with her. Haruki was a majestic creature, a crane with sky flames burning at the red crown on her head and on the tips of her wings. Alessa snapped her chain taut, and after a moment it burst into violent fire, glowing with heat and orange flame.

"Say your fucking prayers." She muttered, charging in.

-

Hitomi would later proclaim that Rin and Hoshiko fought "EXTREMELY well!" to anyone who was stupid enough to ask, before being given a blow-by-blow account of the entire thing. If anything, it was fast. It ended with at least 3 minutes to go before the bazooka timed out, and Hitomi found that very impressive.

Sure, it had been a little startling when a panda coated in rain flames had come out of Hoshiko's box, and kind of embarrassing when a koala had come out of Rin's. He had given her a strange look that she completely ignored, instead choosing to respond, "Haruto didn't make it too well out of a raid."

Hitomi had blanched at those words. Haruto was Rin's current box weapon, a rattlesnake. And he knew for a fact that Rin adored it.

The thought of Rin losing him so soon...Hitomi's heart clenched in sympathy for his sister. But his eyes widened in shock as Hoshiko moved so fast he couldn't even see him anymore. A blur of red shadow darted around the assasin, and the man fell to the ground, bruises already darkening his skin. Hoshiko spun to a halt, freezing in an unfamiliar stance for a moment before dropping it.

"I need to stop doing that." He grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "At least I'm not out of practice."

The man stirred, groaning, and Rin promptly bashed his skull in with three well placed kicks and a merciless fist. Wiping her hands off on her uniform, she turned around and motioned for Hoshiko to help pick up her little brother.

"To the foyer, right?" Was all Rin asked, and he nodded in reply. Glancing over to check if Hoshiko was ready (he was, having put the Ten Year Bazooka over his back), they picked Hitomi up by the arms and began running hell-bent towards the foyer, and God help anyone who got in their way.

-

Emi only knew they were getting close to the foyer because the amount of people that were attacking them was growing and growing, until Emi was nearly buried. She would have been grateful at stumbling out finally into moonlight and a high ceiling, except _there were assassins everywhere_ and it seemed more and more were pouring it. It was like a leaking wound coming from the front door, which was suddenly decimated by her dynamite, blocking it partially off with limp bodies that reanimated in moments by the Mist users. Emi shoved her elbow into one's face, feeling his nose break, and hissed. At least ten men dropped to the ground behind her as casualty, but there were still so many. It was as bad as being in a club, and everyone seemed to be trying to kill her.

Shirou, using a long ranged weapon, found he couldn't even swing his kusari-gama without it getting caught on someone's bone or snagging in clothes. A blade sliced into his leg, drawing blood, and he howled in pain as the storm flames began to eat at his flesh. He surrounded himself briefly in Lightning flames, before slumping slightly. This was insane.

Emi couldn't help, since she was in her own predicament. A man had tried to stab her in the shoulder with a large flaming dagger, and only quick thinking and very flexible maneuvering coaxed it to instead bury itself in her upper arm. Screaming, Emi yanked it out and stabbed him in the neck, a hand clamped to the wound. She'd already had the lecture on safe places to be targeted long ago.

-

_"Emi-chan." Emi heard a deep voice and looked up, smiling a wide grin (complete with missing teeth) at her approaching father and the Juudaime. "Tou-san!" She ran forward, burying her face in his stomach. Gokudera looked startled, before he knelt down and gave her a proper hug, Tsuna snickering down at him. It was odd to see the normally serious man turn back into a father._

_She was 9 years old, happy, young, and currently at a shooting range. The man had looked at her funny when she walked in, but she was so happy because Mommy said Daddy would be there! And the Juudaime would too, though Emi didn't care so much about that. She missed her Daddy so much, since he'd left on his business trip three months ago, and he was coming back to spend the _entire _day with her!_

_"Have you been hitting the target?" Tsuna asked curiously, not bothering to question the morals of taking a young girl out to a shooting range for the only day Gokudera would see her in months. Other kids would ask to go to an amusement part, the zoo, but Emi had asked for that specifically. Emi nodded enthusiastically, bowing to Tsuna like she'd been shown by her father. "Yeah!" She pointed to the human-shaped target, where there were neat and clean holes through the shoulders and legs. _

_Gokudera looked at his daughter in confusion. "Why didn't you shoot anywhere but those four areas?" He asked, as his daughter picked up the gun loaded with pellets again. She had to hold it with both arms, he noted, because of the recoil, but that was to be expected from a 9 year old. She fired another two shots cleanly through the holes._

_"I don't want to kill people." Emi had blinked up at him, looking so innocent that Gokudera nearly recoiled. Tsuna watched, noting the change in expression._

_"Ah...Emi-chan." Gokudera winced, dropping down to his knees again. "See, that's no good. There really is no safe place to hit people, see?" He picked his daughter's arm up gently, tracing the line of her muscle with a finger. "See here? If you were aiming for the shoulder, that's the safest since that's muscle."  
_

_Emi nodded, clear devotion in her eyes. Tsuna could see how much she looked up to her father. _

_But if you shot the joint, like you did on the target," His fingers moved to prod at bone. "That would probably make them bleed to death and give them permanent arm damage." Emi's eyes widened in nealy comical horror._

_"But...but the TV showed people getting shot there!" She protested, before Tsuna let out a quiet chuckle._

_"TV isn't always right, eh, Emi-chan?" Her godfather smiled thinly, and Emi looked at her dad in panic. "Is there anywhere safe to hit?"_

_"Well, the torso is usually best." Gokudera's brows furrowed, and Tsuna was struck by how alike the two looked. It was clear they were father and daughter. "As long as you don't hit vital organs."_

_"Alright, daddy!" Emi reached up and put her arms around his neck. Gokudera froze for a moment in shock, before hesitantly returning the gesture. "I don't want to kill people, so I'll use the information Tou-san teaches me! Thank you, daddy!"_

_The moral conflict could be seen the rest of the day, Tsuna would later reflect when he reminesced. A girl, 9 years old, taught how to avoid killing if possible. Gokudera never spoke of it again. They never imagined that one day Emi would use that information, to prevent injury to herself and to deal out fatal blows, all in the same battle._

_-_

Emi was using that knowledge wisely, as she cleaved her way through the mass of people.

-

Katashi was clearing the way with Itsuki, taking out all the Mist people he could identify and everyone in his way. People were going down with tracks burnt into their skin and clothes. Since the ploy of the Mist users had been discovered they were openly getting up as their wounds healed, not even bothering to hide it, only falling when the ones disguising their pain with illusions and making the wounds disappear did too.

It was sick, Katashi thought in disgust. It was sick to have these men literally fight until they couldn't stand, even with the help of illusions. He saw men falter and fall, looking completely unharmed until the illusion gave and newly revealed wounds suddenly appeared.

And the blood. The _blood_.

-

_"Dad." A 13 year old Katashi was sitting in his dad's office, cross-legged in the corner and reading a book. His glasses were falling off his nose, and he pushed them up in irritation. "Tou-san?"_

_"What is it, Katashi?" Tsuna had turned around in the swivel chair, fixing his eyes on his son and smiling. "Bored?"_

_Katashi thought for a moment. "No, not really." He replied, resting his chin in his hand. "I was just wondering..." He held up his novel, a fantasy book full of magic and knights wielding swords. "I was just wondering, what does blood smell like?"_

_Tsuna froze in the middle of a yawn, his eyes locking on in panic at his son. He nearly choked, grabbing desperately for the glass of wine that he knew would be on his desk. With a breathless gulp, he downed the entire thing before turning his eyes back on Katashi. "Why...why do you ask?"_

_"I was just wondering." Katashi had a thoughtful expression on his face. "I mean, this book has bloodshed but they never really describe much of it. It's red, it's a liquid. That's about it." He noted, pushing his glasses up again. "But everyone in this book gets shocked by it. They nearly have a mental breakdown. I mean, it can't be that bad, right?"_

_Tsuna bit his lip, wanting to tell his son about how it felt to see red everywhere you looked, to feel the slippery warmth and have the smell so powerfully buried in your nose that you could never forget the terrible, coppery scent. But he didn't. He merely stared at his son for a moment, his eyes shadowed, until he turned back around to the mountains of paperwork on his desk._

_"I hope you never have to experience a situation like that." He said simply, and Katashi blinked owlishly at the back of his seat. No more words came from Tsuna, so Katashi uneasily went back to his book until Emi and Shirou burst in, calling his name and asking for him to join in a game of baseball, and it was all forgotten._

_-_

He hoped, he prayed, that he could someday forget the scent, and knew that he wouldn't.

But a staticky noise came over the Bluetooth and Katashi's eyes widened as Hitomi's voice came over the line.

"We're...on our way." He grunted, sounding like he was in pain. "I don't think I can fight until Rin finished healing me though." He coughed. Rin was holding her ring over his injuries, the small cuts fading quickly but the large gashes slowly closing themselves.

"Take you time." Katashi urged. "We're almost there."

A third voice joined, Alessa. "I've nearly taken out all these bastards." She gulped. "Hitomi, heal me when I get there."

"Are you OK, Alessa-nee?" Katashi asked, his voice rising in fear. She sounded very pained...

"...I got shot." She murmured, quietly. "It hurts like a bitch, but I'll be OK."

"Be careful." He urged. "We're almost there."

Almost turned out to be an understatement, as he came dashing out into the foyer into a mass of bodies. He could see Shirou and Emi fighting, and promptly sent a massive wave of Sky flame into the poker. It was very effective in knocking a wave of the surging crowd into the walls. Itsuki appeared quickly after, running between men to take a position between Emi and Shirou.

"I thought you hated crowds, Itsuki." Emi breathed heavily. Anzu was trapped in the corridors still, too big to come into the foyer. The cat settled for ripping apart the reanimating enemies coming from that direction with yowls. The hedgehog rolled into partial view, staying in the mouth of the corridor to block off the men behind it.

Displeasure was etched across his face. "I despise them." He hissed back, his bloodlust increasing palpably. "They will all die."

"Good old Itsuki." Alessa came running- or rather, stumbling- in, her chain suddenly around a man's throat and her crane flying at breakneck speed in front of her. She broke his neck without even trying, tossing him aside. "Chiyoko, Daisuke, stay back!"

The two twins were tucking themselves into a closet, scrunching themselves down until they fit. It wasn't until the door was closed and they were bathed in darkness that Daisuke began sniffling, and Chiyoko burst into tears.

"Don't worry, Imouto." Daisuke choked out. "The closet is ranked 39 out of 8590 hiding places in the mansion."

"Is Alessa-nee going to be OK?" She cried, tears soaking into her scarf. Daisuke paused.

"Yes." He said, voice trembling as he began to cry too. "Of course."

-

Hitomi was more or less healed before he was placed in front of the entrance to the foyer by Hoshiko and Rin, the former shaking and panting from the physical effort of carrying the boy. Hoshiko ran a hand through his hair, looking exhausted.

"Time's almost up." He warned Rin, out of breath. "Aw man, I'm out of shape."

"Alright." Rin stared Hitomi in the eyes, her hands placed firmly on her shoulder. "I have a couple of things to say to you. One, I'm leaving you this ring." She jammed a sun ring onto his finger, and from the feel he could tell it was a fairly high class. "Second, protect me and let Hoshiko fight." Hitomi's eyes widened in confusion, but one glance at Hoshiko told him it would be fine. The boy was laughing and nodding, looking off into the distance as he reminisced.

"I'll leave these horns for mini-me." He grinned. "Make sure that mini-me uses the Bazooka and returns them within a month, ok?"

Hitomi nodded mutely, as Rin blazed on.

"Get to Alessa as soon as possible." She ordered. "And hold out as long as you can. Do you understand?"

And before he could answer, a puff of smoke enveloped the two and Hitomi caught his older sister before she hit the ground, blood still leaking from partially bandaged wounds. At least she'd gotten some care ten years in the future. He placed her gently on the ground, and then he handed the horns to Hoshiko, who looked at them with wide, disbelieving eyes, until Hitomi pulled the little boy by the hand into the midst of the battle.

"Fight to the EXTREME!" He yelled at Hoshiko. "Don't let my onee-chan down!"

-

Katashi was almost disbelieving. This was absolutely completely utterly _insane_.

The sheer amount of people crowded into the wide stone-paved foyer was astounding at that. The visibility was low- joy, another plus. But he had gotten a glimpse out of the window and his jaw had nearly come unhinged.

_Reinforcements!?_

No, it was clearly not enough that they were getting slaughtered as it was. Not one of them except for Hoshiko and Hitomi had no bleeding wounds at that point, and it was getting harder and harder to block attacks and to deliver their own. Katashi had squinted, and found that at least a third of them men waiting outside were Mist users reanimating the ones inside. It was like a zombie attack. A never-fucking-ending zombie attack.

A yell startled him out of his panicked thinking, and he whirled around to see Alessa falling, a knife in her leg. Blood spurted out grotesquely, and within moments Hitomi was yanking it out of her leg, the sun ring on his finger shining bright light onto the red. Katashi rode loops around them, trying to fend off anyone who tried to take advantage of the temporary weakness. Thankfully the fire he kicked up around them seemed enough to keep them at bay for at least a minute, which was enough for Hitomi to close the wound up to a two week old scar.

"Thanks." Alessa hissed, getting back to her feet. "You got the bullet wound too."

Hitomi's eyes widened. "Is the bullet still in?"

Alessa shook her head, wiping tears of pain out of her eyes. "No. It went through."

"I have to go!" Katashi's voice came from the firestorm around them. "Get ready!"

Hitomi clapped his hand on Alessa's shoulder before bracing himself, and as promised the fire vanished in a second. Hitomi roared, before racing out into battle again.

Katashi was doing his best to keep an eye on the rest of his friends. Hoshiko was doing fine, from what he could see. At least his height made a small difference- he was harder to hit. Ragged sobs were coming out of his mouth, but the horns on his head seemed to be doing him good. Electricity was crackling from them, and he gave anyone who bumped into him a nasty shock. Future Hoshiko was clearly more powerful than expected.

Shirou had given up on using the chain part of his weapons, instead using the handles and slashing lines through his opponents. Katashi wasn't blind to the rivulets of blood running down his face, or to Emi's favoring of her right leg where a nasty bruise was taking form, along with two long scratches. Alessa was still fighting as best she could, the heavy chain darting out and snagging, pulling, breaking despite the injuries she'd already taken. Itsuki was a whirlwind of blue, and the people around him were falling almost faster than they revived. Almost.

God, it was hopeless.

And then, as always, the wall blew up. Everyone in the room ended up stumbling, falling, and skidding back from the aftershock, as four tall figures walked into the room.

Coughing, Emi choked out the words. "What the _hell_?"

-

**:O I wonder what that could be. I'm taking longer writing these because I really want to avoid cliche stuff...that and I've been reading the Flames and Family series by madashes2ashes. Good fics. Good fics. I wish I could write like that...xD Update for Unexpected Arrival should be coming soon along with the next chapter. Seeing how it's going, this may go into 6 chapter range or even 7. Depending on how I write the next one. Oh, and I just got my shipment of my official Vongola Rings in the mail! Happy...I'm wearing the Storm and Rain rings right now. xD Why are my hands so small...?**

**EDIT: Someone pointed this out to me and I would like to clear it up: Shirou has a Lightning flame from Haru, who I've always thought of as a Lightning. My own justifications are weird, but they work for me. Hoshiko is a Rain/Lightning mix from Lambo and I-Pin. Itsuki is above average in detecting Mist illusions and sometimes even twisting them to his own use, but he requires a ring to be accurate and has to concentrate very hard to create illusions of his own. **

**...-flails- This is just to prove they're not carbon copies of their parents. XD**

**- the e t e r n a l -STORY**


	5. Battle End

**Battle End: Sounds Like a Video Game**

_Chapter 5_

-

The patter of four sets of feet making their careful way into the destroyed room commanded attention. No one moved. The assassins were unsure of whether they were allies, the Vongola kids were tense and ready to fight, but not so reckless they would charge into and possibly injure someone trying to help. As it turns out, it was good that they waited.

Of course, everyone sort of froze when Emi broke into a headlong charge towards the one leading.

"YOU ARE THE MOST USELESS COUSIN IN THE **WORLD**!" Emi's was only held back by Katashi, as she moved with twice the energy she'd had before. It was all the boy could do to hold her back by the arms, as she flailed in fury. "KENJI, YOU _BASTARD_!"

A handful of storm flames lit up the face of the first person, and Gokudera Kenji was revealed, a large carving knife in his hand. Slowly the rest approached the flickering red flame, revealing themselves. Mariko was easy enough to identify from the glasses on her face, Bianca from the large narwhal hovering behind her. It only took them a few more seconds to realize that the fourth person was Etsuko, by the gleam of his fangs.

"It took you long enough!" Hitomi spluttered, walking forwards while throwing his hands up in the air.

"What happened to 30 minutes?" Katashi grumbled, pointing at his pocket where his phone was sitting. The assassins began stirring again, closing in slowly as they realized that they were reinforcements. Of a sort.

Kenji was, unfortunately, an accident. Though Bianchi held Reborn very close in her heart, she wasn't Reborn's only former lover and he wasn't hers. One thing led to another- namely, Kenji. The boy looked far too much like Bianchi, Gokudera often complained, and sometimes when he was taken off guard the boy could send the famously strong Storm Guardian to the bathroom in a panic. Bianchi often fretted over the boy's pale blonde hair, saying that it made him look too much like his father. Kenji always just brushed it off: He'd been hearing the same comment for 20 years. The carving knife he was holding up happened to be his mother's. Though he didn't inherit his mother's effortless ability to use Poison Cooking (it actually took him some deep concentration to screw up a dish that badly) he was still able to use kitchen tools to his advantage.

Hence the turkey baster hanging out of his back pocket.

Shouichi Mariko was thankfully not an accident, though with the way Shouichi acted whenever the slightest of problems with her came up, any outsider would probably assume that she was. She had long, red hair that she had refused the cut since the age of 10. 7 years of hair growth is quite a lot, for those who don't know. And she had a hell of a lot more combat skill than her father, having trained herself in shooting with Uncle Spanner's virtual reality program that he'd mostly perfected. Shouichi nearly had a cow when he found out, but Mariko had continued. It was customary at Vongola Gatherings now for at least one person to comment to him that "If it weren't for the hair, I'd never believe she was yours."

Bianca, on the other hand, was pretty much a carbon copy of Basil, down to the Rain flame and the oddly shaped weapon. In her case, it was a sharply angled boomerang, and a narwhal as a box weapon. Place pictures of the two side by side, and you had to squint very hard to see a difference other than clothing. Despite the fact that she was 14 years old, she was already a serious fighter and best friends with Etsuko- or at least, they were in her mind.

Though of course, her dad taught her Japanese wrong.

Finally, there was Etsuko, a boy who befriended animals more than other people. A surly, bad-mouthed and bad-tempered 13 year old, the fangs that he bared weren't only for show. He didn't have his dad's compatibility for cartridges- that was something that years of experimentation under the Estraneo family had given him. But clearly something had been messed with, because if you didn't know that they were real, you'd swear he was wearing some sort of weird vampire teeth. He and his constant "playmate", Itsuki, couldn't stand each other. Auntie Chrome had to babysit the two boys, together no less, far too often for her liking.

Kenji held up his hands, looking around at the hordes and hordes of men that were slowly closing in again. "Bad time, Emi-chan. Can you please kill me later?"

The barely suppressed growl that came from her throat was her agreement to the temporary truce, and she ran across the closing gap to snatch her third box from her cousin, who was holding it out for her.

"Say thank you." He told the girl cheekily, before jumping off into the crowd and going for the first Mist user he saw, the Storm Crocodile that was his Box Weapon trudging along behind him and snapping its jaws. Emi ground her teeth together, slamming her ring into her box with so much force the box nearly buckled underneath it. Against a flash of red light, a pair of claws that strapped to her knuckles came out.

Emi quickly slipped them on, testing them by opening and closing her fists. A burst of storm flame went through them, adding another two inches to the steel blades. Then a wicked smile came passed her face.

"Watch out."

-

Shirou looked over the closing gap, as the remaining group broke into a run to reach the others. As it turned out, they didn't need to run very far, because within moments they were all huddled into a circle facing outwards, fending off attacks. Hoshiko wormed his way into the middle, but no one would complain about that. It was enough that he had fought anyway.

"What now?" Katashi yelled, sending out a kicked up wave of fire towards the closest enemies. "They're not backing up and they keep reviving no matter how many Mist users we take out!"

"Calm down, Katashi." Mariko reprimanded him, pulling out her gun and firing a headshot. "Think for a moment. Don't you recognize the family?"

"Not at all." Shirou replied for his friend. "I've been to all the gatherings Katashi's ever been to and I don't recognize them at all."

Mariko combed her fingers through her hair in exasperation as she fired off another shot, only to watch the bullet be swallowed by skin and reforming flesh. "Millefiore. Alliances. This is a coup d'etat. What family has the Millefiore been discovered to have dealings with?"

The blank looks she got were answer enough, and she nearly shot the ceiling in exasperation. "The Latente Nebbia family. Do you guys not check your emails?"

"That depends..." Katashi winced. "If you mean my private email, yes. If you mean the one that our parents set up for us, no."

From the disgusted look on Mariko's face, she was either ready to slap Katashi or start banging her head against the ground. Kenji quickly stopped her from taking any such action and changed the subject quickly. "What are the Latent Nebbia?" He asked, running a man through with the knife. The wound began sealing itself up around the metal, and he yanked it out with an expression of disgust.

"The Latente Nebbia are a small, not really well-known family that used to be under jurisdiction of Millefiore, but they're now teaming up with them again." Mariko scowled. "After the Millefiore disbanded, they became a sub-family underneath Vongola, but I guess they weren't taught their lesson well enough. They specialize in Mist users."

"I can see how they'd be a threat." Mumbled Shirou, who was trying to withdraw his weapons from the arm they'd become embedded in. A sudden rain of Lightning went down on them, and with a shriek of panic, everyone simultaneously ducked. At least someone was quick-thinking: Bianca put up a shield of Rain flames in response. The strong wave of blue fire quickly nullified the attack, and for a moment wounds around them opened up again, before Bianca had to let the Rain shield drop and they began to recover.

"I don't give a shit what they are." Etsuko spoke up, a slash dripping blood on his cheek as he scowled. "How do we beat them?"

"Right, right." Mariko nodded. "The thing is, the Mist users will reanimate other Mist users by disguising their wounds if they're still alive. With a powerful enough illusion, you can go running happily around with a hole in your chest until you bleed to death, and not even notice. To take out this family, you have to take out every last Mist user."

"Can't you just undo the illusions?" Hitomi protested, as one man got it into his mind to try and chop the boy's hand off. He got a knee in the gut and a punch that sent him into the wall in response.

"No can do." Mariko grimaced, twisting the Mist ring on her finger. "The best I could do was temporarily remove the illusions on about half of the Mist users here."

Katashi looked at Shirou, and the boy gave a slight incline of his head. "That'll do. Wait for our signal."

"Wait, what-" Mariko's eyes widened in shock, before everyone messily broke ranks and began running hell-bent for the first Mist user they saw.

"Box Animals out to anyone who hasn't gotten them already!" Hitomi yelled, bringing out his spare box. A quiet click announced the entrance of a large, malevolent looking snake that twisted itself into a coil before snapping out, sinking its fangs into the nearest enemy leg. Sun flames glinted off of its scales. Shirou nodded and pulled out his other box weapon, and a large seahorse came flying out, calmly floating into several men and sending them to the ground, trembling from the electricity that sparked off of it. Anzu came running into the room all at once, pouncing headlong into the battle and bringing down at least five men in one go. The others that hadn't released theirs clearly hadn't heard, and by then they were too preoccupied to worry.

-

As it turns out, it was a stupid idea. The rate they took down Mist users and the rate of them getting right back up were close, but no dice. Alessa's voice came over the mike, twisted in disgust.

"It's not working!" She hissed, as her Box Animal protected her from yet another torrent of attacks. The once magestic and neat feathers of flame were becoming ragged as it lost more and more power. "They're reviving too soon, I can't even make a dent before they recover." She whirled her chain around, until it became a whirling shield of flame that she sent into the nearest gathering of enemies. They were sent flying.

Shirou buzzed in. "Same here." He breathed heavily. His hands were getting blisters, and the wounds he received were getting more and more painful. If the gash in his side was anything to go by, he was going to be in bed for a while. Holding up his kusari-gama, he put it through a man's throat- again.

"I. Have. Already. KILLED YOU!" They heard Etsuki yell, his voice cracking. This was insane. This was utterly insane.

Bianca and Etsuko were standing not far from there, back to back and fighting as hard as they could. Unable to throw her boomerang, Bianca was reduced to letting her narwhal do the real fighting and slashing with the blade portion of the weapon at anyone who ventured too close, while Etsuko slashed with fanged teeth at anyone stupid enough to draw close. Hoshiko and Hitomi were being backed into a corner, the electricity in Hoshiko's horns increasing as his hysteria did. Hitomi was trying his best to stay out of reach of the too-large horns, and was throwing out punches as fast as he could.

Emi was already being slowly backed into a wall, and even the claws on her hands weren't doing much damage anymore. The dynamite supply she had on hand was dangerously low, and the Mist user nearby was clearly and blatantly being protected by another. It was like an unsolveable puzzle. There was something more to the attacks that she just couldn't see, something just out of reach.

-

_It was in the middle of December and another cold night at Yamamoto's apartment, where the kids had been crashing since being snowed two days ago. The power was gone, and the only reason they weren't all dead by then was that Tsuna was dead-set on getting them some help, even in another country. He had one of his men drive through the storm- "Tsuna's insane." Yamamoto had blanched when he heard what his friend had done- to bring them blankets, a small stove, food, and for the kids, a puzzle. _

_"What?" A 7 year old Katashi had blinked when they got the box. "Why did dad get us a _puzzle_?"_

_"Don't ask me." Gokudera had flopped onto the couch, exhausted and nearly frozen to the bone. "I blame you and the stupid woman for this, sword freak."_

_"If you act like that, I won't give you a blanket." Yamamoto teased, watching Haru (huddled in a large quilt) open the box for the children and help them spread the pieces out on the floor._

_"Sword freak, sword freak." Emi had started chanting. Gokudera gave her a brilliant grin in return. "She takes after me." He had crowed in pride, while Yamamoto had nearly choked on his tea laughing._

_Their intelligence really isn't to be underestimated. Without the help of their parents (although it had taken Shirou and Katashi both to restrain Emi from finishing the entire thing herself, she really had gotten too much of her father's smarts) they had nearly completed it except for about 30 stray pieces within an hour._

_"I don't get it!" Katashi pouted, holding up one of the pieces. Unsuccessfully trying to jam it in place, he stopped himself short of throwing it across the room in a tantrum. _

_Yamamoto had squatted down next to them, holding his hand out for the piece. With a gentle hand, he turned the piece and fitted it gently into place. He did the same with one that Shirou held. _

_"Maa, maa." He had laughed, while Shirou stared up in absolute admiration of his father. The sound of Gokudera snorting and saying "Che!" could be heard in the background, amid sniffles from the cold he'd apparently caught. "No need to panic, eh? Sometimes you just have to look at things a little differently, to solve a problem."_

-

Maybe she was looking at it wrong. She wondered, hopping onto the head of an opponent and jumping straight over. Maybe-

Wait.

_Protected_?

Emi dropped to the ground, sliding across the floor until she could snag the Mist ring from the man's finger. Like she suspected, it was low-rank and poor class, probably a D at best. A desperate charge through a mass of people got her to another Mist user, the one that she assumed was protecting the other one.

The man's ring was major high-class, A-rank. Emi kept a close eye on him when he fell, and he didn't get back up. In fact, it seemed as though the people around him didn't even notice.

Emi's brow furrowed in thought, and she dropped her attempts to keep attacking the people around, opting to make her slow way towards Itsuki, buzzing in his mike at the same time.

"Itsuki!"

"What is it, herbivore?" The boy snapped, looking irate as he kept killing people he had already pretty much torn to shreds before..

"Itsuki, look at the attack pattern really closely!"

"What about it?" Itsuki replied, looking around. He saw no pattern to it, it was just straight mobbing.

"No..." Emi groaned in exasperation. "It doesn't make sense, see? Mariko told us that the family was small, there are at least 200 enemies in this room and twice that number waiting outside. There is no way any sane family would stake their entire existence on one battle, when they aren't even convinced of the outcome. And if it was a small family, how could there be this many people?"

"Against about 10 underaged children?"

"Underaged children of the Vongola." Emi reminded him. "Our parents would destroy any family that took us out. Don't you see it? It's not a horde of people, that's a fucking illusion!"

Itsuki jumped to the wall, climbing his way up with his sai until he was suspended halfway up to the chandelier, holding his grip for a precious 5 seconds. Up there, he could see what Emi meant. The pattern of people swirling around each individual, dodging and hitting, was the same. Twisting around deftly, he unhooked his sai from the walls and dropped down next to Mariko in the same move.

"Mariko." He said, and she turned around, nearly blowing a hole in his head before calming down. "Mariko, you said you couldn't take away the illusions for more than a couple of seconds, right?" Quick block with sai, a nasty twist of the wrist nearly taking his arm off. The man was down for about three seconds before beginning to crawl back up.

She grunted in affirmation.

"Say there was a very large illusion of crowding herbivores." He suggested. "Could you possibly disband that illusion if it was weak enough?"

She contemplated a moment

"...Cover my back." Mariko shoved her gun into her waistband, and Itsuki was nearly pressed back by the sudden rush of attacks. Katashi sensed the sudden invisible movement of several men rushing to gang up on the two. Itsuki held up his sai in a crossed "x", biting his lip and watching as the metal began to crack and splinter apart underneath the pressure. A vicious attack to the head left him reeling, and Katashi raced over with his skates, executing a spinning kick to knock away at least some of the people that were relentlessly attacking the boy.

Another sharp stab knocked the air out of Itsuki's lungs. He staggered, before Shirou took his place and Hitomi promptly dropped down next to him, hold up his Sun ring. Itsuki knocked him away, getting to his feet and resisting any and all attempts to get him to "Sit down, you fucking idiot!" and "Heal up, stupid."

Bianca and Etsuko were rushing over from where they had been fighting, the narwhal following along cheerfully, goring anyone that attempted to attack it's master. It didn't matter much though, because even when the attacks hit, there was no damage.

There was a gentle glow of indigo Mist flame as Mariko's Box Animal rose behind them. A massive horde of pale blue frogs was now hopping around, latching to illusions. The frogs absorbed the flames that powered the images...and it went on for a surprising 10 seconds until only about 20 men were left and revealed to be the only true enemies, shocked and terrified.

"I think we can take on 20 people." Hitomi cracked his knuckles as he approached the men, giving them a murderous look. "So this is the Latente Nebbia family?"

"Che." Emi spat, approaching them with a dangerous gleam in her eyes and a split lip. "You don't fuck with the Vongola."

One of the assassins let out what sounded like a high pitched squeak, nearly crying in terror. The others were pulling out spare rings, but Mariko's Box Animals seemed to be doing the trick. "Y-You're only children!" He whimpered pitifully. "J-Just kids!"

Shirou limped forwards, glaring as he pressed a hand to a badly bruised jaw. "We're not _children_."

Kenji walked calmly alongside them. "We are the next generation of Vongola. And like my adorable little cousin said," Emi nearly began screaming abuse at him again for that. "You don't mess with the Vongola Family."

Staring at the weapons that they held, the men didn't even try to resist as they were very roughtly trussed together and tossed into the sitting room, with Itsuki looming over them as a guard. The furious look in his eyes was enough to tell them that if they even considered trying to escape, they would be prompty killed.

"That's what you get for crowding together." The boy said quietly, and one man promptly wet himself.

-

"I still don't understand!" Hitomi proclaimed as he crouched over his sister, healing up the cuts that had mostly scabbed over on her. His snake was going around, dripping Sun flames in the form of "venom" onto the wounds that needed closing up. "But I will listen again, to the extreme!"

Emi nearly blew a gasket, and gave up. Stomping heavily to the back of the larger living room, where beds and couches had been dragged in from various rooms (and nevermind the walls that were in the way) she plopped down onto onto a bed, nearly squashing Shirou, who let out a yelp before realizing who it was.

"Emiiiii." He whined sleepily. "You nearly opened up the wound on my stomach."

"Tough luck." She proclaimed, snuggling into his side. "I'm tired. Shut up."

"Love you too, Emi." He grumbled, closing his eyes again.

Alessa flopped onto a cushion in front of Rin, nodding at Hitomi. "Alright, let's try that again." She began talking, emphasising every other word with very large and unnecesary hand gestures.

"So the Latente...Nebbia...family..." She said slowly, enunciating, her eyes on his face to make sure he kept up. "Is BAD. They specialize in Mist and illusion and they teamed up with Millefiore because they wanted to overthrow Vongola, or at least destroy our generation."

Nodding. Good.

"So the hordes of people that we fought that kept getting back up were all illusions."

Still seemed clear.

"It was only a force of about 20 people overall. They attacked the same time the illusions attacked. It's actually pretty brilliant." Alessa noted, biting her lip. "Except we found the pattern and upset it, so that we could identify the 20 men that were really behind it."

Hitomi seemed to be in deep thought.

"You get it?"

"Nope!" Hitomi stood up, adopting Ryohei's 'extreme' stance. "BUT I WILL SLEEP ON IT TO THE EXTREME!" He proclaimed, before falling to the ground, already snoring.

Suddenly understanding Emi's reaction, Alessa threw her hands up and went to sleep on a couch. She was done with explanations for the day. Katashi was falling off of the couch he had crashed on, the kids were all huddled into one bed-

Fuck it. She didn't know how their parents dealed with it, but Alessa gave up, popping an aspiring and falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

-

**The next chapter probably shouldn't be called a chapter. Cause it's gonna be short as hell. I also had so much trouble writing this because the ending sounded so lame to me, but I did my best...ah...T_T**

**Coming soon from me should be a drabble series on NextGen, and also a humor fic chiefly featuring the original cast: with a twist. It'll have a conspiracy and a network of fangirls and a whole lot of nice crack. xD So keep an eye out. **

**Also, to those who were wanting to know who the guardians were, that will be addressed in the drabbles. I'm waiting for a story idea featuring NextGen to hit me again for the time being. **

**Cheers,**

**the e t e r n a l -STORY**


	6. Rest

**Rest: The Only Way to End a Fucked Up Day**

_Chapter 6_

-

The damn car just couldn't go fast enough, could it?

Tsuna was nearly hopping out of his seat, pacing around the limo, nearly jumping out the window to use his X-Gloves, and it was only Kyoko's prescence and Hibari's solemn threat to kill him that kept him from moving. Hibari had arrived near the end of the battle, solidifying the victory. Tsuna didn't even want to know how the man had known to come there, but he had. The other Guardians were grateful for his instilled fear: Keeping Tsuna in the limo was a must and it made the job all the easier.

Kyoko was tense in the seat next to him, her eyes flickering around in fear. Fear for Katashi, Tsuna knew. Fear for all the children.

"Can you hurry this up?" He barked at the man up front, who jumped in his seat.

"Sorry, sorry Tenth!" He cried. "But we're already going as fast as I dare, with the rain."

Tsuna shook his head in frustration, dropping the topic. It was near impossible to drive on the road as fast as they were without lightning-fast reflexes, and he knew the man would probably kill them all if they tried to push him. "How much time to arrival?"

"Four minutes, sir."

Four minutes was enough time for the kids to be killed, if they were still alive. Four minutes was too long. Hibari held up a tonfa threateningly as Tsuna made a desperate lunge for a window, glaring at him with cold grey eyes.

"I said I would bite you to death if you tried, herbivore." He reminded him. "Calm yourself and sit for four minutes. Your child makes you weak."

"Che!" Gokudera spat from where he was sitting, trying to disguise the slight tremble in his legs. "You aren't exactly neutral yourself, Hibari."

"And you, herbivore?" Hibari turned to him, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "You're turning pale, and your legs are shaking. I wouldn't say you were blind to it either."

"Your hands are trembling." Gokudera pointed out. "Face it, you're not an emotionless freak. You're worried."

Hibari turned away in disgust, while a worried Yamamoto coaxed Gokudera back into his seat. Haru was openly sobbing into his shoulder, and he was doing his best to make her feel better, as Ryohei went around with his scalpel healing what wounds still needed closing. The rest of the people were behind the barrier in the middle of the limo, unable to be seen or heard.

"Dear God." Tsuna breathed in horror, as what used to be Vongola Castle came into view. "Katashi."

-

The small question of _how the hell am I going to afford fixing this place_? Was going through Tsuna's mind, and he nearly fell over as he stepped over the rubble that used to be the main entrance. Gokudera's yelp and the sudden prescence of his Rain and Storm Guardians holding him up was the only way he knew that he had just been saved from what had probably nearly been a dead faint.

The place was splattered with blood. Tsuna looked around in horror, at the marble floor that was slick in it and the burnt tracks on the walls that were obviously Katashi's skates. (How many times had his mother warned him not to use them in the house? How many times?) Deep claw marks were in the walls as well, and with a well trained eye Tsuna found the numberous bullet holes and the chipped tiles.

Dear God.

Kyoko began to openly cry, she and Haru leaning against each other, while the rest of the team went pale as they entered. Tsuna began giving out orders as fast as he could.

"Headphones on." He told them sharply. "Everyone spread out and note collateral damage. Find the kids."

Nods, and they went off. Tsuna could hardly disguise how badly his legs were shaking by then, and Gokudera wasn't much better off. In fact, Tsuna admitted, if it wasn't for the prescence of Yamamoto, they probably would have both collapsed into a boneless heap. The scent of burned blood was heavy in the air.

"Emi..." Was all Gokudera croaked out hoarsely, and Tsuna knew how much he cared for his daughter, no matter how much he seemed to be neutral. Yamamoto's jaw was clenched, his angry face on. A crackle of sound came over their mikes, and a hyperventilating Lambo was patched through.

"M-M-My room." The man breathed, sounding like he was going to faint. "Hole in wall. Blood." A quiet thump soon came over, and rustling preceded I-Pin's voice.

"He's OK." She said softly. "He just passed out, I'll bring him when you find the location of the kids."

"Then they went to get their weapons." Tsuna murmured, as more reports of broken walls in rooms and decimated hallways came through. He felt sick as he walked through the carpeted hallway. That carpet used to be _white_. Now it was a mottled red and black, charred and broken. The walls were crumbling at a glance, on the brink of coming down.

"It's not safe to be here, Tsuna." Yamamoto muttered, quietly. "The ceiling sounds like it's going to come down soon."

"I know." He replied, trying to get to his feet again. "That's why we have to find them." When he found whoever the fuck did this to his house, whoever threatened his children, he was going to rip them apart limb from limb for every single scratch the'd inflicted-

Thankfully, Bianchi came through before his anger could rise further than that.

"The living room." She said crisply, relief evident in her voice. "Come as soon as you can.

-

The trussed up men in the room were not what Tsuna had been expecting. Hibari was already gently shaking awake his son, and Itsuki blinked blearily to see them in the room. He had been lying with his hands behind his head, sleeping soundly on the ground with Kibird hopping about, trilling "Victory! Victory! Banzai!"

"It took you long enough." Was all he reproached, sounding irritated.

"Explain." Hibari pointed at the men, turning a cold gaze onto his son. Itsuki seemed to shrink before him, before standing up, back straight.

"Latente Nebbia family." He spoke clearly. "They tried to ambush us and destroy Vongola before they were uncovered by Gokudera Emi and Shouichi Mariko." Tsuna wasn't blind to how Gokudera puffed out his chest in pride, and Kibird began singing quietly as he buried himself in Itsuki's hair. Hibird appeared out of Hibari's pocket, sleepily flitting his way over to his son.

"So they did this to you?" Chrome asked quietly, walking forwards to rub some dried blood off of his cheek. Itsuki stiffened, looking hostile, before he slumped and submitted his mother's worry.

"It wasn't difficult." He grumbled. "The rest of them are in the second living room. Can I go back to sleep now?"

Mukuro stepped forward, before effortlessly swinging Itsuki over one shoulder. His mother touching him may have been acceptable. But even if Uncle Mukuro was like Chrome in some ways, it didn't stop Itsuki from nearly putting a sai through his eye. It took Hibari's intervention to stop him from killing the man, as the Vongola Famiglia trooped along the halls to the second living room. Tsuna stumbled and nearly fell again as they neared it: it looked like several pieces of furniture had been kicked through the walls. Which, you know, wasn't too far from the truth.

"Ah, Katashi!" Kyoko ran forwards, hugging her sleeping son. Blearily the boy opened his eyes, groping for his glasses. "Nnngh...kaa-san?" He mumbled, looking around. "Ah! Dad!" He shot out of bed at the sight of Tsuna. "It wasn't our fault about the house, this other mafia raided and-"

Tsuna silenced him by walking forwards and giving him a tight hug. "I know." He whispered. "Thank God you guys are safe."

Fuuta was sitting by Daisuke and Chiyoko's bed, stroking their hair in relief, while I-Pin slowly worked Hoshiko out from between the two, intending to hand her son off to Lambo (who was still looking a little woozy). Mukuro was dumping Itsuki unceremoniously onto a bed with Bianchi nearby, shaking Kenji awake and scolding him for sleeping with his shirt pushed up. Ryohei was trying to wake Rin and Hitomi up as quietly as he could, which was kind of counterproductive as a sudden roar came from near the back.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Gokudera was pointing an accusing finger at Emi and Shirou, who were still huddled together in one bed. Cue Guard Dog Complex.

"Mmph..." Emi rolled over so her face was pushed into Shirou's chest. "Shut up Tou-san..."

"Maa, maa Gokudera." Yamamoto grinned. "It's fine."

"Calm down." Haru told him, fanning her hands in a "quiet" gesture. "Hahi! Isn't it so adorable?" She whispered to Kyoko, a wide grin splitting her face.

Gokudera rubbed his temples in irritation, resisting the urge to bomb Shirou's ass out of the bed. The kid was known for sleeping through anything. Well...

"VRAAAAAAIIIIIIII!" Setsuko came running in, yelling at the top of her lungs. "Wake up, you brats!"

Shirou nearly fell out of bed, and did end up hitting his the headboard. "Itai..." He groaned, rubbing his forehead.

"Shut the fuck up, Setsuko!" Emi yelled back, not opening her eyes. Gokudera flicked her in the forehead for language, and she waved his hand out of the way in irritation.

"Hey, don't give me attitude, brat!" Drawing her broadsword, Setstuko went off at an angry lope until Squalo caught up with her and nearly threw her out of the room, yelling something about "GET TO SLEEP!"

Ryouichi was already crashing on the stairwell, and Wakana had driven off with her father as soon as they were given the all clear. Katsu hadn't even waited for that, just rocketed off balancing on his staff. Yuuto had vanished soon after, making the fighters wonder if he'd been there in the first place. Bel was currently seeing if anyone was dead enough to the world that he could use them as a target. No one was, after Setsuko's entrance.

"Hey there Princess." Dino grinned at a sleeping Alessa, who groaned and turned over in her sleep. Picking her up bridal style, he gave an apologetic smile to Tsuna. "If we want to get her home in time, we'll have to leave now or our flight back won't wait any longer."

"Go on." He told him. "Give Alessa my thanks when she wakes up."

"Will do." Dino nodded, before strolling out of the castle.

"Call Irie, Ken, and Basil." Tsuna gave a halfhearted grin. "I'm guessing they didn't know about this yet."

"Will do!" Haru chirped, running out after giving Yamamoto a peck on the cheek. Her mood had improved dramatically, and within moments the panicked tones of a very worried Irie Shouichi could be heard from her cellphone in the "hall".

Rin rolled onto her brother, snoring.

Tsuna gave Katashi a beaming smile, sweeping an eye over the rest of the kids and sighing in relief. "I'm so proud of you, Katashi." He told his drowsy son, who gave him a thumbs up in response. "You can tell me about what happened in the morning. Go to sleep now."

"Thanks, tou-san." Katashi murmured, turning over and falling asleep within seconds.

Walking over to hug his wife, Tsuna closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of her hair. He felt as though a huge weight had been taken off of his chest. "I'm going to leave the Vongola in good hands." He whispered into Kyoko's ear. "Our son has grown."

"Yes..." She smiled up at him, and he heard her quiet words even above the sounds of an arguing pair of Storm and Rain Guardians, a fighting Cloud and Mist, Lal yelling for people to shut up and Fuuta keeping the peace in consternation. "He has."

-

**And there you have it. The end of Within the Blood. It's been very fun writing his fic, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I'll be posting my drabbles and my new fangirl parody fiction soon, and if you liked this story, I recommend them. I'm hoping for inspiration for another fic of teenage NextGen at this time, so if you have an idea, don't hesitate to send it over! I also take drabble requests (I have one at the moment) and even though I usually can't respond to reviews, I'll be sure to work in my constant reviewers into my stories however I can. x3**

**Thank you!**

**- the e t e r n a l -STORY**


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